WordpLaY
by Demonic Angel Clone
Summary: Tell me words that fit us, and I'll describe each one. Presenting Chapter 104: Yes; "If I were to ask you to marry me right now, would you say no?" Ben and Adrian -BAd- drabble and ficlet collection.
1. Absolute

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**Absolute**

Adj, _free from imperfection_

_

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When asked who his girlfriend was, Ben would proudly say that position belonged to Amy, and no one else. She was a mother, his wife, the one and only.

Then _she_ came out of nowhere, and everything changed. He changed.

"So, do you mean it when you say you love Amy?" Adrian asked him musingly at random one day.

"Yeah, I do." Then curiously he asked, "Why?"

"She's lucky," Adrian nodded even though he couldn't see over the phone. "Not many guys do."

"…Have you ever been told that?"

"Love's a strong word, Ben. Ricky only uses it for sex."

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Okay, so here's the deal. For every review I recieve, I put up a brand new drabble, no questions asked. Each one has exactly 100 words, some will be AU, some will not. Others will be connected, others random musings.

Plus, for all my SAT takin' peeps out there, you might just learn a new word. :)

DAC


	2. Benign

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**Benign**

Adj, _of a gentle disposition, showing kindness_

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Adrian read the word in one of her books due for English Lit and paused. Funny. It perfectly described Ben; it even had the first three letters of his name in it. Kind. Caring. Like that day he comforted her in the hallway.

And, of course, she slapped him.

She chuckled at the memory and realized that they'd become a lot closer since them, remembering their casual late night conversations.

The next day at school, she slipped him a small note in the hallway, and walked away before he could even ask why. The letter explained it all.

_Thanks…for everything._

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For soren919. So sorry I didn't update this sooner, but I could _not_ get my hands on a computer.

DAC


	3. Closer

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**Closer**

N, _one that closes, the finisher_

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They're standing in front of another now, this time in the privacy of his bedroom. Adrian sneaks precariously closer and Ben takes a step back.

"You don't know what you want," She remarks.

He shakes his head. He knows he doesn't want this. He takes another step back as she inches closer. "I want Amy," Ben blurts out, trying to convince himself.

"No you don't," She says, and his legs hit the foot of the bed. She reaches out and grasps his collar.

"D-Don't you want Ricky?"

"I'm tired of wanting something I can't have."

Their breaths mingle and…

"Stop."

* * *

For hollowmeadow. *giggle* I adore BAd too! They're just so..._good_! (By the way, for any **_TOW_** fans out there, I will post chapter nine. Soon. _Hopefully_.)

DAC


	4. Deformation

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**Deformation**

N, _alteration of shape or form_

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She's twisting his perception of the world around him. She's making him writhe with her words and crumble under her stare.

Adrian's changing him.

"You don't love Amy."

And, just like that, his life flashes before his eyes. Life before Amy and life with Amy; he doesn't know about life after Amy because Amy was all that ever was and ever would be.

This isn't a question, merely a fact. Ben turns to her eyes widened and he shakes his head, though the action is useless.

She _knows_.

And now she's twisting his collar, curling his lips under her own.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Oh yes, I just love all types of BAd. Angsty, sweet, funny. Actually, I just like calling them BAd now. ;)

DAC


	5. Exit

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**Exit**

V, _to cause, to cease running_

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There was no way out.

She was here, and he was here and they were here. Together.

She could've left, should've left.

But then he speaks.

"I broke up with Amy today, and that was one of the hardest things I've ever done because I loved her…and at the same time I'm _in_ love with you."

She's speechless. He smiles.

"Will you be my girlfriend, Adrian?"

How does she answer that? No one's ever asked her that before. Is this like a _novella_ where the scenes become dramatic?

He takes her hand in his and holds.

Then she says, "Okay."

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For hollowmeadow. Okay, BAd is just too good to say no to, and thanks for the compliement! If you ever plan on writing BAd one day, feel free to PM me; I'd love to help. ;)

DAC


	6. Fear

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**Fear**

V, _to be afraid to one's self_

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She's standing in front of him at five foot two, and he has never been more intimidated in his life. He exceeds her height and yet, there's something burning in her eyes, something that someone as cautious as him knows to stay away from.

He can't help the fact that every time he saw her; proverbial red flags went up.

Red. The color of her shirt.

She smirks because she never smiles at him. "Are you staring at my breasts, Ben?"

He shakes his head fervently and prays that she doesn't hit him for retribution.

Adrian laughs, and walks away.

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For soren919. Because pervy!Ben is too funny to stray away from. :D

DAC


	7. Grandeur

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**Grandeur**

N, _state or quality of being grand_

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He always had the best of everything in life; best food, best clothes, best friends and though he isn't spoiled, even he will admit to being born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

She wasn't born with the best; her mother barely made ends meet to pay bills for their small condo, but here was the difference.

She demanded the best.

That's why she's living in a house now –next to his ex no less- and that's why she's on top of him in her bedroom.

She was the best he ever had, and she never made him forget.

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Okay, so, I totally omitted **Exit** by accident the first time. Which is my bad, but good for you because you get an extra drabble. Yay, more BAd! And anyone could contribute to the cause; one review, one new drabble. :)

DAC


	8. Heaven

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**Heaven**

N, _dwelling place in which sin is absent_

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Ben always believed in a Heaven and a Hell. When he was ten, his mother died, and he was sure she became an angel. Then, he saw Grace Bowman once in eighth grade, and he thought she was a fallen one meant for him.

Of course, that was a long time ago and all he thinks about now is what he would've thought of Adrian. Amy, without a doubt, was _his_ angel, but Adrian?

She was somewhere in-between, he decided. An angel fallen from grace and demonized. Left in purgatory because she didn't conform.

He likes her better that way.

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For soren919. BAd means BenAdrian. Heheh :)

DAC


	9. Indignant

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**Indignant**

Adj, _justified in intent_

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"So, do you think I'm a slut?" She asks him with a stiffed lower lip before he could even close his locker.

Ben turns his head to look at her and then briefly shakes it. "No, why would you think that?"

"You sure don't have a problem when Amy says it." Adrian glares and Ben turns ashen.

"Amy has her own opinions…" He says carefully and she stands on tiptoe.

"Amy's your girlfriend, not your boss. You can stand up to her too."

She stalks away before he could tell her. He _couldn't_.

He didn't want to risk losing her…

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For hollowmeadow. Why, thank you dear. A bit of BA, maybe.

DAC


	10. Justice

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**Justice**

N, _the quality of being just and fair_

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Adrian was all about _'keeping it real'_ and _'standing up for what you believe in'_ and all that other crap they tell you on PBS specials. She was.

She just didn't see why she was _The Slut_ when Amy Juergens walked around her freshman year with a big pregnant belly because she didn't know what a condom was. Or the pill. Or Hell, even the fact that sex made babies. Anyways…

Yes, she understood she slept around, but as long as she was safe and no babies came from the union, it was no one's business anyways.

Ben didn't mind.

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For hollowmeadow. May update more later.

DAC


	11. Karma

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**Karma**

N, _force of a person's actions_

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If there was one thing Adrian knew about, it was that karma was a magnanimous bitch.

Although her best friend's perception was skewed –having _horrible_ _sex_ doesn't _make_ _babies_, and having _incredible_ _sex_ doesn't _kill fathers_- she got over it. Eventually.

Well, she pulled over, dropped a kid off at his middle school, and cursed out a truck driver all in one morning.

In conjunction, she hit a cheerleader with her baton, tore her English Lit paper, and stepped on Grace's foot.

So what if she cursed? What happened to good with good deeds?

Luckily, Ben made her laugh afterwards.

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For hollowmeadow. And no, my BAd muse isn't shut-up-able. :) Actually, I have about 50 of these drabbles written up already.

DAC


	12. League

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**League**

N, _an informal alliance_

When it came to girls, let's just say that Ben Boykewich was a little less than experienced. Okay, a _whole_ lot less. Alice was right, he needed practice. Lots and lots of practice before he'd even know what to do. According to his father and Betty, there _was_ such a thing as bad sex, so, how could he correct this egregious oversight?

"Well," Adrian crawled on top of his midsection with a smirk on her pouty lips. "They say practice makes perfect."

They happen to say a lot of things, he thought. Just not how he got in that situation.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Okay, okay, I admit to loving lengthy, nearly psychotic reviews. They make my day. :D More reviews=more drabbles.

DAC

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	13. Major

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**Major**

Adj, _greater in rank, importance, or interest_

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With academics, she was top marks everytime. With athletics, she was lead majorette on varsity and one of the best track runners Grant High had seen in a while.

So how could she forget something as big as Ben's date with Amy? Because _their_ date meant _her_ time alone. With Ricky.

Maybe they forgot when their clothes shed from their skin, or something. And maybe she began doing other things she deemed more important, and more pleasurable, at the time. Maybe Ben forgot too.

The next day, Ben's words echoed in her mind.

"_Ricky stayed at Amy's house last night."_

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For Sarah. I think it's just illusion, considering every drabble has exactly 100 words. There'll be times when they go in order, and then it'll just switch up one or two times, who's to say. You'll never be bored. ;) And thanks to Spash4life-18 for the story alert. :)

DAC


	14. Nape

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**Nape**

N, _back of the neck_

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They started doing their 'practice lessons' every evening at about six o'clock.

The location: Ben's bedroom, and occasionally Adrian's when Ruben wasn't home.

Remarkably, though Ben hadn't really done too much in other areas, he was one of the best kissers she'd ever kissed. "Probably all those times you kissed Amy," She whispered breathlessly before their lips met. "It's not like you could've done much else..."

She had a few tricks up her sleeve. Like grabbing his hair at the crown of his head and leaving bites and kisses down the nape of his neck.

Bet Amy never did that.

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Thanks to Rippl for the alert, much appreciated. :)

DAC


	15. Over

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**Over**

Adv, _across a barrier or space_

It was one of those lazy days where they cuddled because she wanted someone to just _hold_ her. Ben was looking into her eyes and playing with her long dark curls.

"I think I'm breaking up with Ricky," Adrian said abruptly, telling him because he was one of those people she felt compelled to tell.

His fingers stopped their ministrations. "Remember when you told me I didn't know what I wanted?"

She nods, slightly on edge.

"I think I do…I just don't know how to get it," He murmurs, staring at the ceiling and playing with her hair.

"Try asking."

* * *

Hmmm, just felt like posting. *shrugs*

DAC

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	16. Players

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**Players**

N, _one actively involved in competitive process_

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"You've been hanging out with Ben a lot," Ricky accused.

"You've been hanging out with Amy a lot," Adrian answered.

"She's my kid's mother."

"He's my boyfriend's co-worker."

Ricky crossed his arms and craned his head to the side.

"You know, we could do this all day," Adrian remarks.

"Don't want to," He answers tersely.

"Then have fun with Amy," She says flippantly and slams her locker. Ricky grabs her wrist and she glares. "Let me go."

"Not until you tell me you slept with Ben."

"Well, I'd ask you the same thing, except you did that already, didn't you?"

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For tammy216. Thank you for giving this a chance, even if the characters aren't your fancy.

DAC


	17. Quarantine

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**Quarantine**

N, _state of forced isolation_

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"So, I guess we're stuck here…" Adrian said outside school with her eyes closed against the wall.

Although majorette practice had ended a while ago, Ben just walked out from The Dead Parent's Club. Turns out they weren't the only ones in school, so it became an official club with a moderator, which was good because Ben needed more extracurriculars.

Since Adrian was rear-ended a couple of mornings ago, she was stranded at school, reduced to waiting for Ruben to pick her up.

"Well, my driver is coming, so would you like a ride?" Ben asked hesitantly.

"Better than staying."

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For Sarah. Yes, verbal assaults happen to be a speciality of mine. ;)

DAC


	18. Radio

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**Radio**

Adj, _of, relating to, or operated by radiant energy_

The next week, when Adrian's convertible was out of the shop, she decided to repay the favor by driving Ben from school to the butcher shop. This way, she didn't feel like she owed him anything, despite Ben's fervent dismissals.

"I'm not taking 'No' for an answer. Deal with it."

He sighed and sunk into the passenger seat, "You really don't have to do this."

As soon as the door closed, Adrian floored the gas petal and turned the radio up to full blast as she exited the school parking lot.

Her hair flew to the beat of the music.

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For Dance Alice Dance. Ironically, your name fits with the drabble. ;) Thanks for the support hon.

DAC


	19. Stop

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**Stop**

V, _to cause to cease_

"Why?"

He's breathing heavily at this point, and he didn't know he said that out loud. "W-We're involved."

"Oh, _now _you admit it," She says with a smirk.

He specifics, "With Amy and Ricky." He swallows and licks his dry lips nervously, which Adrian curiously notices. "We really shouldn't do this."

"I do a lot of things I shouldn't do," Her eyes alluringly darken.

"We love other people," Ben says as an excuse.

"Are you sure?" She whispers to him pensively, still grasping his collar like a lifejacket.

He nods assumingly, nervously, even if he doubted it himself.

"Prove it."

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For Dance Alice Dance. Hehe, I _wish_ it'd happen on the show! :)

DAC


	20. Truth

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**Truth**

N, _sincerity in action, character, or utterance_

"Why can't you say it?"

Ben turned to face Amy staring at him hard pressed with her hands on her hips and glaring green eyes. "I don't know what you're -"

"Shut up," She snapped. "All you do now is lie to me because you can't even look me in the face and say…" She trails off, teary eyed. "_I _can't even say it."

He watches her pace about the kitchen, a habit she does when she's agitated.

"Maybe I _am_ better off with Ricky," She spat bitterly. "If I can't trust my own boyfriend, then I shouldn't have one."

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For jojobevco. Thanks for reviewing! And I hope to update _The Other Woman_ soon. :)

DAC


	21. Understood

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**Understood**

Adj, _agreed upon_

See, they didn't have to say anything.

Like that time he comforted her in the hallway, and that other time when she thanked him with a note.

"All work and no play, Benjamin?" Adrian smirked over the phone.

Ben paused. Only his father and late mother called him that. He sighed, "Being with Amy feels like work."

She nodded sagely, "Sounds like you need more play." For a boy who just came back from Bologna, he sounded so world-weary.

"What if I had too much?"

She didn't answer because with those words, she didn't have to say anything at all.

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DAC


	22. Vernacular

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**Vernacular**

Adj,_ native tongue, language, or dialect_

"Did you know that Benjamin means 'the baby of the family' in Spanish?" Adrian murmured one day on the roof of her condo building.

She brought him up there, to her special place. She didn't know why, but she just didn't put too much thought into it at the time.

"Really?" Ben asked, intrigued.

Adrian hummed her confirmation with a nod.

They're both watching the sunset and she's leaning her head on his shoulder with a yawn.

"What about 'Adrian'?" He asked curiously.

"What about it?"

"Does it mean anything?"

She smirked lightheartedly, "I'll get back to you on that."

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Happy holidays to all! Just a random note: My grandfather's name is Benjamin. :D

DAC


	23. Wrong

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**Wrong**

N, _state of being mistaken or incorrect_

She asked for proof and when he couldn't give her any, she took something else.

Adrian whispers the same question again: "Are you sure we love Ricky and Amy?"

Her head is on his chest and he's staring at the ceiling, playing with her dark tendrils. "No," Ben replies. "I'm not."

They're silent for several moments, and then Adrian gets up. "I should go," She says quickly before he could ask. She's putting on her jeans and all he can do is stare.

"You don't have to," His throat constricts.

"It's not like you're asking me to stay."

She's wrong.

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For hollowmeadow. May you enjoy BAd and all of it's epicness. ;)

DAC


	24. Xenophobia

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**Xenophobia**

N, _fear of anything strange or foreign_

"So, I'm guessing you only like White girls," Adrian spouted one day. Ben's instantly saying it's not true, trying to convince her that he wasn't one of those types. "Just being honest."

Ben splutters, "I'm _Italian_."

She blinks, "Half. And to be honest, you don't act like the Italian guys I've met."

'Really? How's that?"

"Suave. Sexy. Slick. The three _S_'s," She counts on her fingers. "Sexist is a runner up, though."

Ben was flabbergasted. Sexist? "_How_?"

"Women are for sex, cooking, cleaning, and breeding while the men go to work," She said straight faced. "Me? I like to dominate."

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For soren919. Dominate!Adrian makes my day. ;)

DAC


	25. Yield

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**Yield**

V, _to give way or give up_

"_Ay Dios Mio_," Adrian muttered in her mother tongue. "You suck at driving."

It's Saturday morning, Leo and Betty were at brunch, Amy's in band, and Adrian had nothing better to do.

"I can't be _that_ bad," Ben proceeded down the street lane. Adrian sighed skeptically, but relaxed. At least he wasn't driving _her_ car.

Half hour passed and they stopped at the Dairy Shack for shakes before heading back onto the main road. The coast seemed clear, but deer step out in front of the car.

He slams the brakes.

Profanity in Spanish sounds so much better than English.

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For jojobevco. This is sometime before the Season 2 pickup.

DAC


	26. Zero

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**Zero**

N, _the lowest point_

It's New Year's Eve and the Sausage King holds a banquet for employees at one of his restaurant chains.

Ben brought Amy.

Ricky brought Adrian.

And for the first time, both girls were civil with one another, which confused their significant others. Because of holiday spirit and good will, they all celebrated with glasses of eggnog and champagne. Later, Adrian stepped outside and Ben followed while Amy and Ricky talked.

"I've been thinking about asking for what I want."

"Don't ruin tonight, Ben. Please."

The final countdown strikes zero and Adrian enters the New Year in Ricky's arms.

Not Ben's.

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For jojobevco. Happy New Years everyone!

DAC


	27. Answer

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**Answer**

N, _the response to a question whether right or wrong_

"Talk to me."

They're in an empty hallway and he's holding her by her shoulders.

"No."

"Adrian, please…"He trails off elliptically, pleading.

"Let me go, Ben."

Her toffee eyes are steel and he loosens his grip.

For the past few weeks, they didn't talk and not because he hadn't tried. He called, she screened. He waved, she ignored. Now he had enough. "Are you going to pretend nothing happened?"

"Yes," She answers and moves past him.

He moves in front of her. "Why?"

She can't tell him, so she says, "I love Ricky," instead.

"You don't know what you want."

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For hollowmeadow. Yay, onto the new list!

DAC


	28. Baby

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**Baby**

N, _an infant born after nine month's in the mother's womb_

He's standing outside her bathroom door, head against the wall, fretting.

He wasn't ready for John, no matter what he said beforehand, he wasn't.

So what made him think he could handle this?

_Because she's Adrian and…because she's holding my child_. He thinks.

Possibly.

It's not a definite thing because she's taking the test right now. He's nervous and his stomach is clenching when the door opens.

He turns and she's stoic when she says: "Guess what came right before I took the test."

Ben shakes his head, not comprehending her meaning.

She sighs heavily, "Pregnant women don't have periods."

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For hollowmeadow. An AU storyline, obviously; kind of playing with it, enjoy! ;)

DAC


	29. Connection

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**Connection**

N, _a relation of personal intimacy_

They're alone in Adrian's bedroom and they're naked, hazy from the pleasures of sex. Adrian is lying on his chest with a smile and Ben is tracing circles on the small of her back.

"I've never had a guy stay the entire night, except once," She murmured.

"Was it Ricky?" Ben inadvertently asked.

Adrian looks up, and shakes her head and her curls. "My first love, if you can believe that." He's quiet and she continues thoughtfully, "We were like you and Amy, once."

"What happened?"

Her eyes glisten, "He was too good for me, so God took him away."

* * *

For hollowmeadow. I would've loved to have seen what Antonio looked like...

DAC


	30. Date

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**Date**

N, _a prearranged meeting between two parties_

Adrian's idea of _'going out'_ was a guy coming to her house, sex under her bedspread, and eating a sandwich afterwards.

So when Ben said '_date'_, she paused and thought it was a codeword. "Can we not call them 'dates'? Ricky used to call it that."

Nonplussed, Ben slid his arm around her waist. "So, um, what do you want to call eating at a restaurant?"

Equally as bewildered, Adrian craned her head. "Eating?"

"At a restaurant," He reiterated.

She laughed, "Oh. I thought you meant…"

"No," he shook his reddened face. "Well, maybe after…"

"That can be arranged, Ben."

* * *

For hollowmeadow. A little awkwardness between our pair seemed in order. ;)

DAC


	31. Epic

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**Epic**

Adj, _extending beyond the ordinary in size_

As a girl interested in literature from a young age, Adrian had read every fairytale.

_Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs._

_Cinderella._

_Sleeping Beauty._

After reading _The Princess and The Pea_, she had made her mind up. She put the book down and began practicing cartwheels instead, realizing something at her tender young age.

She didn't want the fairytale. They didn't exist, and she wasn't fool enough to believe.

So, after her date tries to rape her and Ben rushes to her side, risking his life, she cannot help but feel that her story is much bigger than she thought.

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For hollowmeadow. Adrian-centric, and a _little_ bit of a semi-spoiler. Hope you enjoyed!

DAC


	32. Fabrication

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**Fabrication**

N, _a concocted lie_

She lied.

And maybe she didn't have to, but she did and it wasn't for the reason you think.

How could she bring Ben down with her, make his life difficult, burden him with _The Slut_ girlfriend?

Ruin him with a child.

The truth was that she didn't love Ricky; she wasn't good enough…

…And she hadn't had her period in two months.

Maybe she was better off alone, just like her mother was before. Maybe she wasn't meant for true happiness. Maybe God was punishing her for all of her transgressions.

Maybe she cried herself to sleep every night.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Preggers!Adrian...oh, the angst!

DAC


	33. Grace

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**Grace**

N, _a virtue from God_

Come on, Adrian!" The blonde gushed. "We're going out tonight."

She laid on her bed, yawned, and shook her head.

Grace sighed and sat on the edge, "What's wrong, sweetie? You've been like this all week."

Adrian shook her head and buried it in her pillow, "Just tired." She waited an extra moment. "And…pregnant."

She could feel Grace's doe eyes pierce the back of her skull, but she didn't care. No, she did. This was her best friend. This was the girl that didn't follow her namesake and spluttered first, but rubbed her back all the same.

She wouldn't judge.

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For hollowmeadow. Best friends FTW! :D

DAC


	34. Hell

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**Hell**

N, _realm of demons and the Devil_

"So," She coughs. "This must be what Hell is like."

She's throwing up more frequently; she's not getting much sleep. Some days, she doesn't wear make-up and her hair is tied up in a ponytail while she dons a baggy sweatshirt.

This isn't Adrian.

This is the girl who told her parents that she was pregnant and had to endure the loud harangue. The girl who had to pass Ben in the hallway and lie _everyday_ she didn't tell him; the girl with the rounding stomach.

_The Pregnant Slut._

Her new label.

Grant High School became her Hell on Earth.

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For hollowmeadow. I figured since there was a _Heaven_ in the collection, it wouldn't be right if I didn't add this.

DAC


	35. Indirect

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**Indirect**

Adj, _not straightforward and honest_

He heard it, but didn't believe it.

They had to be passing rumors, right? Because Adrian Lee was too smart for something like that.

She could never be…you know. Right?

But then a football player, some friend of Jack's, was laughing about how it was only a matter of time before _The Slut_ got knocked up.

Call it idiocy or temporary insanity, but Ben actually took a swing at him.

Minutes later, while sitting numbly in the Nurse's office, nursing his eye with ice, Adrian came in to use the phone.

She was beautiful, and she was noticeably…you know.

Pregnant.

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For hollowmeadow (or a.k.a. my Bendrian BFF). Protective!Ben is someone I can't wait to see in the upcoming episodes.

DAC


	36. Jackpot

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**Jackpot**

N, _top prize in a game or contest_

"Looks like she's struck gold with you," Adrian remarked.

This was months ago, and the last thing on their minds was a baby. Ben is innocently eating lunch while Amy was in the Band room and Adrian leaned directly in front of him.

"What do you mean?"

"Having a rich boyfriend would have its perks," She murmured.

"Amy's not like that," Ben muttered.

"I'm just saying, she'd never have to worry about money for her kid."

His almond eyes narrows; she's threading dangerous territory. "What's your point?"

"Watch out for her, that's my point." She warns, and then walks away.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. I dunno, _someone_ needed to set Ben straight about Amy, right?

DAC


	37. Keeps

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Keeps**

V, _to maintain a direction or course_

The second she finds out, she knows what to do. She knows she can give this baby up, or just avoid having it altogether by aborting it.

She knows Ben never has to know.

She knows, but it doesn't make it easier.

She knows the procedure's costly, and she knows that afterward, she could live life normally.

She knows, but it doesn't make it right. _Why would you deny your baby life_, she hears Grace say.

She's about to call the clinic from the school phone and the first person she sees is Ben.

And she knows the baby wins.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Random Fact: Molly Ringwald played a pregnant teen in _For Keeps_.

DAC


	38. Learn

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Learn**

V, _a gaining of knowledge and understanding_

Ben knew that if he studied hard enough, he could understand just about anything.

Girls.

Pregnancy.

Business.

Geometry.

He's with Amy, and he's happy.

Somewhat.

She's alone because Ricky doesn't want a kid that's not his around.

Fine.

No, it's not.

_Whose_ kid was it?

He looks at her and _it kills him_.

Because he thought it was _his_. Because he thought it was _there_.

She said it wasn't.

Now it was.

He found himself getting upset.

He shouldn't have, but he did.

Was she lying, or was she with someone else?

Which would be worse to learn?

_The truth._

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Poor Ben, how will he find out?

DAC


	39. Manage

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Manage**

V, _to handle with a degree of skill_

Adrian was a girl who could handle herself; she just couldn't handle this.

Seeing him, seeing him alone, seeing him with Amy.

Torturing herself Monday through Friday from eight to three.

But she could deal. She could pretend she never slept with him, ignore his stares, and screen his calls.

Her rotund belly was harder.

It grew, ruined her best outfits, and got in the way.

She was dealing, until he cornered her upset one day.

He blocked her body in-between the lockers with his lanky arms. His eyes flitted to her belly, then to her eyes.

"Tell me why."

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Ooooh, Ben made a move! What'll Adrian do?

DAC


	40. Never

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Never**

Adv, _not ever, at no time_

He's never seen her that way.

Scared. Nervous. Worried. These didn't describe Adrian. But looking into her eyes was almost heartbreaking because he never thought that the look on her face now would be so appealing to him.

Ben absently leans over her, but then stops when she stills against the wall of lockers.

"W-Why what?" She stutters.

Never did that before either.

"Why you're avoiding me." He states softly, trying to calm her. She shakes her head, and her glossy lips are spread apart slightly and…

_Focus_.

"You are, Adrian. Why?" Ben prods gently.

"You'll never like me again."

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Mmm, Ben's still a perv. ;)

DAC


	41. Oath

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Oath**

N, _a solemn formal promise_

_"Do you promise?" Grace asked._

_"I-"_

_"Promise me, Adrian, or I will," She threatened._

She promised.

And now she had to tell him. Looming over her gently the whole time. Typical Ben. She bit her lip and told him her fear. His high regard of her kept her going sometimes.

He caressed her cheek. "That won't happen."

Now she wanted to cry. Damn hormones.

She nodded. "It will."

Ben smiled wryly. "Prove it."

Her mouth was agape and she didn't answer, so he stole a kiss.

It was sweet, but she tasted salt and realized she cried in his arms.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Ah, happy ending...Or is it?

DAC


	42. Placement

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Placement**

N, _the act or instance of being in a certain place_

"You're with Amy," Adrian stated against his chest.

"That didn't bother you before," Ben replied evenly.

"Idiot." She growled, "That's not the point." She looked up at him, stale tear streaks down her face. "_I_ want to be with you, and I refuse to be the other woman. I already am, but I refuse to be the other woman with a baby on the way, so make a choice."

He rubbed the sides of her stomach, "Whose the father?" He whispered.

She stared him down, "Does it matter much to you?"

"I just want to know who I'm competing against."

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Another instance where Ben thinks he's against Ricky...I'd, um, really like opinions, or criticisms?

DAC


	43. Question

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Question**

N, _an interrogative statement or clause_

Amy left the band room, French horn in its case and in hand, into the hallway and stopped in her tracks.

Ben held Adrian around her waist and she smiled up at him, laying his large hand on her rounding stomach.

She couldn't hear what she said from that far down the hallway, but she read her lips.

_"It's yours."_

The instrument case crashed loudly in the hall. Ben and Adrian looked in her direction nervously, then Ben took a step back, but the damage was done.

Before Amy knew it, she was in front of him.

"How could you?"

* * *

For jojobevco. I think things are about to hit the fan...

DAC


	44. Reveal

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Reveal**

V, _to make known_

"It's not what you think, Amy."

"So, you haven't slept with _The Slut _and gotten her pregnant?"

An awkward silence. Amy's arms are crossed and Ben's mouth hangs agape for a moment. "Adrian's not-"

"She's right, Ben." Adrian concedes and steps to his side, "Except _The Slut _seduced him into it first. He didn't stand a chance."

Now Amy follows Ben's example and her jaw slacks when she turns to him. "How could you?"

He finally makes eye contact with her, "I'm sorry for hurting you, but I'm not sorry for being with Adrian."

Ben recoils from Amy's stinging slap.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. The original 'R' word was _Requisition_; however, it was changed due to suggestion. Hope you enjoyed!

DAC


	45. Slap

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Slap**

V, _to stike sharply with open hand_

This happened when he got to close. This happened when he said things he shouldn't say, and this happened when he threw her words back in her face.

His cheeks stings, but it's nothing compared to that glare she's directing at him.

"Who the Hell do you think you are saying that?" Adrian's more than a head shorter, but she's proverbially towering over him. "You don't know me, and you don't know what I feel, so when I say 'I love Ricky', _I mean it_."

She's right.

He _doesn't_ know her.

He knows everything about her.

Mind.

Body.

Soul.

_Everything_.

* * *

For jojobevco. This is a break from the pregnant arc, goes back to _Answer_.

DAC


	46. Tact

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Tact**

N, _keen sense of social etiquette_

Amy vented to Lauren, who told Madison, who gossiped to Jack, who already knew because Grace had told him.

By the next week, everyone in school knew who Adrian's baby daddy was, although many would say that it wasn't _that_ much of a well kept secret.

And since everyone in Ulysses S. Grant High School lacked social grace, they all spoke loudly at the fact that _The Slut _no longer wore revealing clothing and wore her _rich_ baby's daddy on her arm like her new accessory.

"Jeez, do people in this school even _have _a life?" Adrian muttered in irritation.

* * *

For tammy216. Because high school is just a fish bowl full of _D-R-A-M-A_. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and read!

DAC


	47. Unnamed

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Unnamed**

Adj, _not mentioned or referred to by name_

"What are we going to name her?" Ben asked her while they cuddled on the couch.

"How do you know it's a girl?" Adrian smirked, "What if it's a boy?"

Ben shrugged, "Wishful thinking, I guess."

"There's Angel or _Angél_ if it's a boy…and-"

"Would you tell me about him?"

Adrian's eyebrows furrowed, "Who?"

"The first guy you liked…" He holds her closer. "What was his name?" She's silent and he speaks up, "You don't have to tell me, but-"

"Antonio." She looked up, "His name's Antonio."

"It's a nice name. Angel for a girl and Anthony for a boy…"

* * *

For jojobevco. Guys, I'd love to hear ideas for names, I'm really not hard-pressed. Much appreciated :D

DAC


	48. Videotape

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Videotape**

N, _a recording of visual images and sound_

He feels _really_ perverted for doing this, but _dammit_, that Joe Hampton wouldn't take no for an answer.

When gambling with money had grown old, they began upping the ante by getting people involved. People whom they knew and who knew them back.

Now Ben's holding his videocamera, poised at the gymnasium door capturing each and every one of Adrian's slinky movements in her tight uniform. Her lithe legs, the sheen of sweat on her skin, the swell of her heaving breasts…

The glow of her toffee eyes in dimmed light.

This was the bet's downfall, and yet he's…

Won.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. And thanks to sexyevilempress276 for the fav! And I may have a _little_ crush on Joe; he's epic on a stick. :D

DAC


	49. Winner

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Winner**

N, _one that is successful_

Adrian can't help but notice Ben watching her.

Really, the boy's not as sneaky as she.

She twirls her baton in the air, catches it swiftly, and turns her head to the door. She winks and he knows he's caught.

"Can I get that tape when you're done? I need to see if I missed a step." Ben stutters and she saunters across the gym towards him, "Please?" He finally nods and she puts her face into the camera's view, "Hi Joe, hope you enjoyed the show. I know Ben did."

"Um, er, no."

Her eyebrow rises.

"I mean, yes."

* * *

For soren919. And thanks to vampirekissesx908 for the alert! Yeah, I've had these drabbles hostage for months, but they're dwindling quick...

DAC


	50. Xerophile

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Xerophile**

Adj, _thriving in or tolerant of moist environment_

It was so easy to fall in love with the beach.

The sand under your toes, hands holding hands, and almond melting into toffee.

Their breaths quicken and Adrian bites her lower lip in anticipation. Ben's eyes flicker due to the action and then glide back to her eyes, his smile crinkling his own. He swears he smells her sweet fragrance on his tongue when she wraps her arms around his neck. Her skin is coloured peach and he takes this opportunity to make his move…

…Then Adrian tackles him into the tide, and he wonders why he even bothered.

* * *

For soren919. Hope you like this one!

DAC


	51. Yearn

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Yearn**

V, _to long for_

"Have you ever wanted someone so much, it aches?"

Ben cranes his head to the boy sitting next to him and sagely nods.

Since Ben was with Adrian, and Grace was now with Jason, the two boys sat next to each other while their girlfriends ruled the dance floor.

"…I don't know what to do about it." Jason continues, "I've never exactly felt like this before."

Ben chuckles, "It just kind of hits you, doesn't it?"

Jason concurs with approving eyes, and looks to Ben for advice. "What did you do about it?"

"Followed Adrian's advice and went for it."

* * *

For starshine1776. In my perfect world, Ben and Adrian double date with Jason and Grace. LOL. Like _that'll_ happen...

DAC


	52. Zealot

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Zealot**

N, _an enthusiastic supporter_

As Ben actively handed out flyers, Adrian rolled her eyes before begrudgingly posting one up on the wall.

"I can't believe how many members we've gotten for the Dead Parents Club," Ben remarked with a smile after reorganizing his stack.

"Yeah because it's _so_ awesome that kids have dead parents," Adrian remarked sarcastically. "You know, I don't even know why you asked me to do this; was Grace busy or something?"

Ben pauses. "I wanted to do this with you, Adrian."

_Damn that smile_, she thinks. That's how she got here. And those puppy dog eyes! But…

She believes, too.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. ;)

DAC


	53. Ascertain

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Ascertain**

V, _to learn exactly_

"You know, it's wrong to do this," Ben whispers, eyes transfixed.

Adrian shushes him. "Then why aren't you stopping?" She retorts, equally mesmerized.

They're looking out her kitchen window, into Amy's dining room. The aforementioned girl and Ricky are in a heated argument.

"Well, it's kind of like looking at a train wreck; I can't turn away." Ben continues under his breath, but Adrian hears.

"Ditto."

Amy steps forward and right when Adrian thinks she may slap Ricky, her breath hitches and she grabs Ben's hand.

The touch is electric, and they find out more than they wanted to know.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Wow, why does Amy always seem to slap someone in my stories? 8D

DAC


	54. Bereaved

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Bereaved**

Adj, _suffering the death of a loved one_

She doesn't know how, or why, but she ends up in his house one day –specifically in his living room and not his bedroom for sex.

Her fingers ghost over the picture frame of a family- a proud husband, a dainty wife, and the lanky little boy they named Benjamin Boykewich.

She never had that growing up, you know? A whole family- just her and her mom.

She guesses she'd miss it, if she had it. But she knew it must be far worse for Ben.

At least her father stayed away purposefully. He didn't die.

Like his mother did.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Well, this drabble is, unfortunately, loosely based in real life. Quite sad really, as I transcended this to Adrian.

DAC


	55. Cache

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Cache**

N, _something hidden or stored_

"Why do you keep all of this crap?" Adrian asked absently, perusing through one of Ben's drawers, spotting old ticket stubs.

He released a weak chuckle, "I tend not to throw out things."

"Tell me about it," She muttered, her eyebrow lifted. "You've got a drawer full of condoms?"

Adrian smirks at the color growing on Ben's cheek. "Well…you can never be _too_ prepared, right?"

"_Riiight_," Adrian agrees with a smile. "I'm sure Amy appreciates that…oh, wait. You guys don't _have_ sex."

Ben's shoulders slump. "It's a touchy subject," He mutters.

"She'll be ready, Ben," Adrian says, apologetic. "One day."

* * *

For hollowmeadow. This one goes all the way back sometime after Ben first called Adrian.

DAC


	56. Dare

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Dare**

V, _to challenge to perform a task_

Ben should've known by that sneaky, mischievous, and…well, _sexy_ look on her face that she had something up her sleeve. Something that would lead to his undoing.

So he really didn't know _why_ had had taken the _dare_ when he should've said the _truth_.

Darn those darkened toffee eyes. She was just so…intimidating!

-And maybe he doesn't want to admit that he just _can't_ say _No_ to her-

But here he was, out on the darkened sand of the beach stark naked with nothing but a cabossa link to cover himself with.

No wonder they called him _The Sausage Prince_.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Based on the beach, and of course, Madison's _Sausage Prince_ comment. :D Well, I've run out of drabbles at this point, so I'm taking requests! Anything you want, any arc you want -i.e. friendship arc, preggers! arc, cheating arc, or even AU arc, ect.- Feel free to hit me up!

DAC


	57. Engaged

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Engaged**

Adj, _pledged to be married_

Rueben and Cindy are situated on the couch. Betty's caressing Leo's hand as he sits on his recliner, The Sausage King in his throne.

Ben and Adrian stand between the two couples, a proud and solitary unit.

But Adrian's painted fingernails are digging into Ben's palm and he's glad to know she's as nervous as he is. The two-carat ring on her left hand gleams and the silence is broken.

"We thought you were smarter than this."

"And _having a baby_ does not mean _automatic marriage_!"

"You're _too_ young!"

Ben turns to Leo, who was silent during the exchange. "Dad?"

* * *

For williedearest. Since you are the only one to suggest a theme/arc, the following drabbles are mostly preggers!arc. Enjoy!

DAC


	58. Forlorn

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Forlorn**

Adj, _nearly hopeless_

Leo stares at his son, face aged and wary, "_No_."

"I love her." Ben relented, face incredulous.

"You also said you loved Amy, too."

"And I did. But-"

Rueben's glare deepened. "But now that Adrian's actually pregnant by you-"

"It has nothing to do with that!" Ben protested to the Assistant District Attorney.

"We're not getting married right away," Adrian finally spoke to the surprise of everyone in the room, including Ben.

"We're not?" He quietly asked.

Adrian nodded, eyes pleading him to understand. "It's just a promise," She said to the room at large, still looking at Ben.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Damn, Ben just can't win, can he?

DAC


	59. Gaffe

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Gaffe**

N, _a noticable mistake_

She's watching him pace about her bedroom from the foot of her bed.

"Are you going to say what's on your mind, or are you going to burn a hole through my carpet?" Adrian asked tiredly.

"Why aren't we getting married right now?" Ben turned to her, and she was stung by the hurt on his face.

She sighed, "We're too young, Ben."

"But I love you!"

"And I love you, too," Adrian murmured. "But we should still wait. And we don't have to have a ceremony to be together. I want one," She reassured, shrugging. "Just not right now."

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Hmm, Adrian has to talk some sense, right? Wrong? Maybe?

DAC


	60. Heckler

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Heckler**

V, _to harrass or disconcern with questions_

The day started out normally. The birds were out, the sun was shining, and it was another day at Grant High.

Ben escorted Adrian to her English Lit Honors class when Joe strutted up behind them, slinging an arm around each of their shoulders and effectively separating them. "_Ah_, if it isn't _Benito_ and _Prego_: a match made in Heaven."

Adrian smirked. "If it isn't Joe Schmoe: the gum at the bottom of my shoe."

"Touché, Ms. Lee. Touché," Joe grinned.

Ben looked at him curiously. "What do you want?"

"Information," Joe quipped, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively. "On Baby Boykewich."

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Is it me, or has anyone else noticed that Joe (or maybe the actor) has an _adorable_ lisp? LOL.

DAC


	61. Irony

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Irony**

N, _the difference between something expected to happen, and what actually happens_

"_Ben_," Adrian pouts.

It's two in the morning. He's groggily holding his cell to his ear, humming in acknowledgement, too tired to speak.

"Baby, can you get me some cake? _Please_?" She whines, and he scratches his head. He knows that she knows that his driving abilities need work, but…_gah_. There are worse things she could've asked for –like a Dairy Shack burger. They're closed this late.

Somehow, he manages to sneak out, drive –_slowly_!- to the corner store, and pick up a simple pound cake without hitting any parked cars.

When he arrives, Adrian's fast asleep, dessert request forgotten.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Ben, _once again_, can't catch a break. :S

DAC


	62. Jingle

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Jingle**

V, _to rhyme or sing a catchy tune_

Grace took to rubbing Adrian's growing belly, and leaning over it happily. And she was fine with that.

Mostly. (But she has BFF status, so she'd be humored which was funny sometimes)

But she had to draw the line.

"You are _not_ singing _Jesus Loves the Little Children_," Adrian said dryly.

Ben laughed at Grace's appalled expression, "_Why_? Babies can hear through the womb."

"I'm sure you can sing to her _after_ she's born, Grace," Ben reassured.

"But she should know her godmother's voice!" The blonde protested.

"And she will. Like, after." Adrian said, verbally patting Grace on the head.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Ah, Gracie, always trying to help the little kiddies. With her perkiness. :D

DAC


	63. Kick

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Kick**

V, _to strike out_

When she was with Ricky, it was _sex-sex-sex_.

But with Ben, she could cuddle –and she found she really liked cuddling because there was something about it that seemed even _more_ intimate than intercourse.

The topic of where they would live wasn't under deep discussion yet, so they usually spent time between bedrooms. Tonight they were in Adrian's and she was inhaling the cologne from nuzzling his neck when it happened.

It was soft, at first. But then there was an abrupt _jolt_ and Adrian reached over to hold Ben's hand over her belly.

His eyes widen, and she smiles.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. A little bit of fluff, hope you liked! ;)

DAC


	64. Labor

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Labor**

N, _expenditure of mental or physical effort_

Remember when she said throwing up in the high school bathroom was Hell?

Scratch that.

_This_ was _Hell_. This was every nerve ending in her body lit on fire, and straining convulsions tearing her apart. This was gripping Ben's hand tight –because _screw him_ if he thought she was doing this alone- and holding on with thoughts of her daughter in mind. This was her mother and father, silently praying for her salvation on her other side. This was his father and Betty, hoping for a safe arrival.

Then…

She hears the cry of most beautiful sound in the world.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. My friend, who is a teen mother, inspired this scene.

DAC


	65. Maxim

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Maxim**

N, _a general truth_

Ben gulps, his pregnant girlfriend glaring at him intently.

"You better be in there." Adrian says softly, with a commanding air about her.

"I have a little to no tolerance of pain," Ben mumbled. "I mean, I couldn't even stand it when Amy-"

"Well, _I'm_ not Amy." Adrian glared. "And you _better_ be in there."

Ben sighed, knowing that for the past week she'd been on edge and was a little _less_ understanding of him. "What if I faint?"

"What if _we_ never have sex again?" Adrian retorted, filing her nails.

Ben's almond eyes widened, horrified.

"Better be in there."

* * *

For hollowmeadow. Geez, _someone_ had to toughen him up!

DAC


	66. Nostalgia

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Nostalgia**

N, _wistful or sentimental_

He thought of one of those days where Adrian was positively glowing, and Ben never found himself more jealous of a cupcake.

This was probably one of those quirks he had, but he always found himself enjoying watching Adrian eat sweets. Like the way the frosting would slip in-between her full lips, or when her pink tongue slipped out to lick off crumbs.

Her teeth sunk into the soft spongy dessert and slowly chewed, savoring, until she swallowed and it made its descent down her throat...

Then an innocent morsel falls atop of her swelled belly, and the moment's over.

* * *

For butterfly01. Thank you so much, and I definitely plan on continuing, enjoy!

DAC


	67. Openhanded

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Openhanded**

Adj, _generous_

Yes, Ben was known as the resident _Richie Rich_.

_No_, this didn't _actually_ mean he _was_ Richie Rich –all of that money was his father's.

But Ben already had a steady job at the butcher shop, and Adrian happened to be very good with how money should be spent so the dynamic evened out pretty well.

Ben sat during his break one day reading _What To Expect When You're Expecting_ when a colorful, cleaned baby's rattle dropped onto his lap.

"Consider it a baby present," Ricky said, already walking away. "John doesn't play with it anymore anyways."

Ben nodded, "Thanks."

* * *

For jojobevco. Thanks for your support, I hope you like it!

DAC


	68. Pacify

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Pacify**

V, _to allay anger_

"You aren't staying in her bedroom, Ben." Rueben's narrowed gaze fell on the two teenagers.

"Why not?" Adrian asked, jutting out her chin. "I've already been properly defiled. Exhibit: A." She remarked bluntly, pointing her index finger to her palpable stomach.

Rueben rolled his eyes and rubbed his temple at his daughter's crass language.

Ben turned to her, "I could stay on the couch and-"

"_No_." She relented. "You're staying with me in my bedroom because that's where you belong, with me. Or we could just go to your house."

With a heavy sigh, Rueben said, "Take Ben upstairs, Adrian."

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Poor Rueben can't win when it comes to his daughter.

DAC


	69. Quiescent

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Quiescent**

Adj, _tranquility at rest_

Ben would be lying if he said that he never watched Adrian sleep occasionally. During the day, she's fearless and sassy, but with him she's just Adrian.

She's soft when they snuggle, and quiet when they watch movies –with a comment or two, of course. She smiles when she sleeps and there's a moment right as she wakes up, the sunrise dances on her face, and her eyes glow hazel, brighter than he's ever seen.

His dad told him that underneath the underneath a woman is herself when she's alone with her mate, and he can finally attest to that.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Hmm, this is fluff, right?

DAC


	70. Rotund

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Rotund**

Adj, _marked by roundness_

Adrian could feel eyes on her and flickered her toffee eyes to the side. "Henry?"

"Yes?" Henry's eyes brightened, delighted that Adrian acknowledged him.

She blinked. "Stop staring at my stomach."

At this, Alice slapped her boyfriend's arm, not bothering to look up from her laptop, and Ben rolled his eyes with Adrian settled under his arm on his bed.

"I can't help it though," Henry explained. "You're getting pretty huge." He said, shamelessly staring at her seven month old stomach. "That baby's probably gonna have a big head, since you're so smart."

Adrian sneered, "_Thanks_."

Henry saluted. "No problem!"

* * *

For Princess Pinky. The Asians! I have to say Alice and Henry have to be one of the most _normal_ couples on the show (and for that, they're lovable to me)

DAC


	71. Stretch

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Stretch**

V, _to extend_

Adrian huffed, annoyed.

She no longer _walked_; she _waddled_. She no longer wore _clothes_; she wore _tents_. And don't even get her started on the fact that she _couldn't bend over to tie her own sneakers anymore_!

The breaking point had to be the offending stretch marks on her golden skin, which darkened to a dark caramel as the days passed. She didn't complain though.

Ben always escorted her to class, and pulled up her undergarments for her. He even tied her shoes when the laces untied as she walked in school.

He never let her get stretched too thin.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Yay, coupleness-ness. (And I dare someone to tell me that's not a word)

DAC


	72. Taxing

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Taxing**

Adj, _difficult or tedious to do_

_"Hee-hee-hoo!"_

Adrian's delicate brow lifted.

_"Hee-hee-hoo!"_ The coos resumed again in practiced secession.

Ben actually made an appointment for a Lamaze class, and even tricked her into driving, saying it was a new fast food joint. She, begrudgingly, went along with it because; well, she didn't have anything else to do –even though she was looking forward to a milkshake.

Now he was over her doing the required exercise, breathing. Which seemed ridiculous to her because if she didn't know how to _breathe_, how would she be smart enough to take care of a _kid_?

"Ben, can we go now?"

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Had to add in a birthing class.

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	73. Unified

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Unified**

N, _joining, coming together_

This was odd because the last person she expected to reach out to her was Amy Juergens.

Ben was putting her books back in her locker and Adrian heard shuffling footsteps approaching, realizing whom it was.

Amy stepped up, Ricky taking her flank. They are together, but they aren't _together_. Not like she and Ben are. She thought it'd be worse to even see them remotely couple-like, but it happened to be a dull _thrum_ under the surface. Nothing.

"Hi."

Adrian looks to Ben, who shrugs, and back to the teenage mother.

"Hey."

And from there began a transcendent connection.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. I may want to explore that...I won't say friendship yet, but relationship. Seems weird they go from "You're a slut!" to "Yeah, we're friends." :S

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	74. Versus

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Versus**

Prep, _to be against_

As Henry straps on his guitar for _Rock Band_, he remarks that the girls' team has an unfair advantage having an extra member- "It's Adrian plus one!" Earning him a slap upside the head courtesy of Alice.

Ben takes bass, Ricky's the drummer boy, and Jason is noted as having the best vocals.

Following suit with their mates –or not mate in one instance- Alice takes guitar, Adrian rests the bass on her belly, Amy's on drums, and Grace sings along to the words.

The girls win the battle.

But later, snuggled with Adrian, Ben knows they won the war.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. They need to have another "_fun_" epsode like the beach episode, but...alas, it's not in the stars.

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	75. Work

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Work**

N, _a specific task_

"I should get a job," Adrian murmured one day.

Cindy's gaze steeled. "I don't want you working; it'll take your focus off of school."

"I'm having a baby now, and you got a job when you were pregnant with me."

"That's because I had to," Cindy stressed. "I didn't have a _choice_, Adrian."

"And I do?" The young Latina pressed.

"_Yes_. You're not being kicked out. The father of your child is here. Focus on your education, if not for you for your daughter."

"I _already_ do that, but it shouldn't have to be all on Ben!" Adrian said, frustrated.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Felt the need to write this one...

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	76. Xeronisus

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Xeronisus**

N, _inability to reach orgasm_

She came across the word in Biology, and she covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her disbelief.

And then, maybe, she showed it to Grace and people overheard and she may have said the name "_Amy_" in the midst of it and…well, it goes down hill from there.

By the end of the day, everyone thinks Amy can't climax which would explain why the sex with Ricky sucked. Because sex with Ricky _never_ sucked, and you _always_ knew you were having sex if it was with Ricky.

Ben comes up to her and Adrian rolls her eyes.

Oops.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Not part of the preggers!arc. More like something that happened "back in the day".

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	77. Yawn

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Yawn**

N, _to open mouth and exhale_

Adrian Lee is not a morning person. Mix that with being pregnant and you get one very unsatisfied _mamí_.

Ben's more prone to waking up and since they stayed in his bedroom last night, there was breakfast awaiting them. He pressed a kiss into her hair, telling her it was time to get up when she responded with an annoyed mumble.

He got up and brought one of the plates filled with eggs, bacon, and toast under her nose, filling it with the delicious aroma. Her eyes snapped open and she released a yawn: a lioness' roar.

And dug in.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Enjoy! ;)

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	78. Zephyr

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Zephyr**

N, _a gentle breeze_

Alexandria Leona Celina Lee Boykewich.

"That's a big name," Ricky remarked.

Adrian smiled, "Yeah, well, it's not stiff. You know. Like _John_ is." She said, teasing.

Everyone laughed from outside the door and the only people in the actual hospital room were Adrian, Ben, who was cradling his daughter, and the grandparents. Ricky was the closest, leaning on the jamb of the door.

"Yeah, well, he _needed_ a simple name," Ashley said from the hallway.

Grace stood on the other side of the door, practically vibrating. "Can I see her?" She asked breathily.

"Hey!" Henry protested, "She's my goddaughter too!"

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Finally, a name! Thanks to Princess Pinky, hollowmeadow, starshine1776, and soren919 for input! ;)

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	79. Atonement

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Atonement**

N, _reparation of offence_

Alexandria wasn't very forgiving.

Her face grew red from demanding milk, and she was impatient. Adrian smiled though, kissing the newborn on her nose. "I still love you, even when you're mad at me," She murmured, finally bringing her daughter to her breast.

Ben came into the room with blankets and wrapped them around his fiancée and daughter, putting on pink infant socks on the little girl as he went.

The baby's eyes were still closed, not having been open for more than a second, but she suckled quietly, contently.

Alexandria wasn't very forgiving, but at least her parents were.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Okay guys, still taking requests (seriously, if you review you could put a suggestion or two, maybe something you want to see, like a particular arc) thanks for reading, and thanks to the awesome reviewers who literally keep this story going. You're awesome. :D

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	80. Basis

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Basis**

N, _the principle component_

Adrian never did the _friend_ thing.

So, it was funny when she and Grace became BFs because Adrian wasn't a friend to _anybody_, while Grace was a friend with _everybody_, being smiley and naïve.

Ben was…special, and a guy.

Amy was a shocker. _The Slut_ thing wasn't something Adrian dwelled on since she had earned herself the title freshman year post Antonio. It wasn't even Ricky –that much- because he was more of a whore than she was!

It was the hypocrisy. Amy was "_innocent_" and Adrian thought that was a load of bull.

But you have to start somewhere, right?

* * *

For jojobevco. Since everyone was pretty much in agreeance that they wanted some more Amy integrated, I'll just dub this Amy!arc, which will have everything from Evil Ames to the rarely seen nice Amy. Enjoy!

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	81. Congregate

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Congregate**

V, _to come together in a group_

"Howdy, neighbor."

Adrian looks up and sees Ricky salute from over the wall. She shakes her head, "You are _so_ lame."

"What can I say?" Ricky said with a lazy smirk, "I've been taking note from your boyfriend."

Adrian scowled as Ben walked out with Lexy. "_Fiancée_!" She barked, her smile reaching her eyes.

Amy's head appears over the fence with John's, and soon they're in Adrian's backyard.

Adrian sees the faraway smile on Amy's face as she watches Ricky with John. "You've got it _bad_," Adrian said knowingly.

"Nuh-_uh_!" Amy protests, but never takes her eyes away from them.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Insipired by the episode "Be My, Be My Baby."

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	82. Dealings

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Dealings**

N, _business interactions, opposing or friendly_

Both girls are staring down each other from opposite sides of the lunch table.

Ben shifts uncomfortably from Amy's side and Ricky's hands are shoved in his pockets, looking anywhere but at the exchange.

"So, you make sure _not_ to touch my boyfriend-"

"And you make sure to keep your slutty hands _off_ my baby." Amy smiled falsely, green eyes menacing.

Adrian's smirk grew. "John seemed to enjoy it. Ricky, too."

Amy shifts in her seat, feathers ruffled. "Oh, I suppose you're a child molester, too." Amy said quietly, meeting Adrian's infuriated glare.

"You know what-!"

"That's enough," Ben intervened.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. And Evil!Ames rears her ugly head! Aftermath of _The Slut_ incident.

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	83. Endangered

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Endangered**

Adj, _being related to an almost extinct species_

"Wait…let me get this straight," Adrian said, holding the door open. "You want to hide out at my house because your psycho Italian girlfriend has the mafia hunting for you to be her husband?"

"Um," Ben shuffled his feet, on edge. "Pretty much."

"Well, if that's the case," Adrian smiled, and then frowned instantly. "_No_."

"But-"

"_No_."

"C'mon Adrian. Please, I'll beg." Ben tried appealing.

He knew he was in trouble when her brow rose.

"Start begging, Boykewich," She said, smirking. "Hands and knees."

A moment later, he was on bended knee practically worshiping Adrian, who laughed uncontrollably.

"Get in."

* * *

For Princess Pinky. And thanks to jojobevco for remnding me of the possible mob senario!

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	84. Fallacious

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Fallacious**

Adj, _tending to disceve or mislead_

Amy's brow is arched disbelieving to it's hilt and Adrian's considering taking back her statement.

"You and Ben think you're real slick, _don't_ you?" Amy's green eyes narrowed and the Latina shook her head.

"I have _no_ idea what you're talking about…" Adrian ran her hand through her thick locks, looking away innocently.

Amy dragged Adrian into the kitchen alone, while Ben and Ricky watched the babies in the living room.

"You're both trying to set Ricky and I up!" Amy accused.

"Um, not true…" Adrian trailed off, glancing at her cross-armed neighbor. "_Exactly_."

"Then what is _exactly_ going on?"

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Don't hurt me, I'm _still_ tryin' to wrap my mind around RA _for real_, and I couldn't help it. Enjoy!

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	85. Gracious

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Gracious**

Adj, _marked by kindness or courtesy_

Adrian shrugged, "Nothing!" She proclaimed at Amy's accosting glare, throwing her hands up in defeat.

"Yeah, yeah…" Amy muttered under her breath, running her hand through her bangs.

"_Any_ways," Adrian began, wanting to get off the tense subject. "Thanks for watching Lexy this week."

As it went, when one couple wanted to go out, the other couple watched over their baby and vice versa. It was an agreeable arrangement and the young parents held no qualms where the children were concerned.

"No problem," Amy smiled. "You know, I think John likes Alexandria."

"Of course he does. He's his father's son."

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Lol, this _would never happen on the show_, but I already fav John and Ben/Adrian's daughter as a couple. :D

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	86. Handler

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Handler**

N, _one that takes care_

Adrian glared in her most imposing stance, and wide chocolate eyes glinted with mirth.

"This is the last time I'll say this, little girl," The young mother said, wagging the baby spoon, intimidating. "_Eat it_."

Alexandria giggled. Time to change tactics.

"Baby, _please_. I'm _tired_," Adrian sagged in front of the high chair as her daughter tittered at the distress.

Adrian growled. Who knew she would've met her match in her daughter?

Then Ben walks over, tickles his daughter, and she's putty in his hands, contently eating peas.

And he's only somewhat surprised when Adrian throws the spoon at him.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Just some post preggers fun!

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	87. Injury

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Injury**

N, _an act that damages or hurts_

Releasing a hiss, he feels the ice-cold sandwich bag being pressed to his swollen eye.

"That was stupid of you, _so_ stupid of you…" Adrian is muttering underneath her breath, holding the bag to his head with one hand, and cradling her swelled belly with the other.

"He called you a slut, Adrian," Ben murmured, finally meeting his eye with hers.

The pregnant teen rolls her eyes. "As if _that_ hasn't happened before."

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't make it _right_," The Italian grumbled. Adrian's shoulder's sagged.

The nurse returns, and Adrian's relinquished, fleeing from Ben and his hurt eyes.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Roughly after _Keeps_ in the preggers!arc.

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	88. Jeer

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Jeer**

V, _to cry out mockingly_

The school hierarchy was this:

The band was nationally ranked.

The majorettes were regional showstoppers.

The cheerleaders stole their routines.

And the football team was Grant's pride & joy.

So after Amy finished her set with her fellow band mates before halftime, the cheerleaders go next, drawing boos from the crowd at the display, including Grace.

Adrian twirls her baton loosely, keeping her anger in check. She turns to the stands and makes eye contact with Ben whose face is rightfully irritated. She had showed him the dance earlier in the week.

_Screw_ the cheer_followers._

The show must go on.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Lol, somewhat friendship arc, but loosely based off middle school.

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	89. Kindred

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Kindred**

N, _relating to family relationships_

They were all one big, happy, incestuous family. ("Incestuous being added because if they were like a family, then they've pretty much screwed one another at this point.")

Ricky did Amy, who kissed Ben, who did Adrian. ("Thus John and Alexandria, savvy?")

Henry concluded Alice's theory. "No, _seriously_. Have you guys thought about it? It's almost like Amy and Adrian had _sex_!"

(Crickets chirp in the background, followed by a slap upside the head.)

Ignoring Henry's glazed over eyes at the thought of his ex and his fiancée engaging in lesbian sex, Ben bangs his head against the headboard. Repeatedly.

* * *

For darensgirll. Hmmm, mostly because the relations between everyone make me giggle. A lot.

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	90. Leveled

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Leveled**

V, _to bring objects, or people, to a certain level_

They live in California, the state infamous for it's Pacific break line.

At everyone's blank gaze, Alice explains. "It's a distinct split in the ground prominently seen in Death Valley that shifts and causes earthquakes."

She's saying this _after_ said earthquake. It's one in the morning, and everyone's standing outside anxiously, Adrian holding Lexy and Ben holding her.

"Thanks for the explanation, Ms. _Almanac_," Adrian states dryly.

The Asian girl shrugs, "You asked."

"It was rhetorical."

"And that sounds like a personal problem to me."

Adrian glowers at her outline in the dark, Ben tracing circles on her aching back.

* * *

For butterfly01. Eh, just because I heart Alice, mostly. Hope you liked it!

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	91. Maternal

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Maternal**

Adj, _characteristics of a mother_

It was one of the many, and yet few, bonds they shared.

The _funk_ in their dysfunctional families, or their counterparts, or the fact that they were both driven.

"Or that you have names beginning with _A_," Joe muses.

Adrian coos over John, and his brown eyes that seem to have olive flecks in them, and Amy practically adores Alexandria whose raven dark locks are long and curly but has a fairer skin tone a shade lighter than Adrian's.

Neither mention how John's features slowly configure into his father's, or how staring into Lexy's eyes were like staring into Ben's.

* * *

For wildfirefanatic08. Jeez, this became transference-like, sorta. :? Anywho, it's request time again! I'm thinking maybe an AU arc, maybe Adult arc, or crossover, even. With a few friendship pieces, of course. :D Thoughts?

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	92. Nature

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Nature**

N, _original character and attitude of a person_

Ben watched her without an ounce of makeup on her face, hair tied up in a loose ponytail, and donning a pair of baggy sweat that gathered by her hips.

She was even wearing a simple chapstick, giving her lips a supple pink appearance verses it's customary gloss.

Adrian was in the bare necessities, and she never looked more beautiful.

It was a sight he reveled in while it lasted. Sweat marring her brow and a smudge of dirt on her cheek, showing how strenuously she was working for charity.

He always knew she was more than a pretty face.

* * *

For jojobevco. Last year, Ken Baumman and Francia Raisa (AKA Ben and Adrian on the show) did charity work, and you can see the picture on the ABC Family website, it inspired this one. ;) The tagline was _Get down and dirty with Ben and Adrian from Secret Life_, LOL.

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	93. Opportunity

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Opportunity**

N, _a good chance for advancement_

"This will teach you work ethic," Rueben states with crossed arms, staring down his daughter.

"But Ben paid for the window!" Adrian proclaims, as she has so many times.

"Right," Rueben nods, loosening his tie. "And you're going to pay _him_ back. Every dime, _entendes_?"

She finds herself with her dad at Ben's door, begging for a job that she doesn't want (and hoping he doesn't give it to her since _she_ broke the window).

She's unluckier than she thought because Leo agrees and the next day, she's wearing a hairnet and apron.

At least she gets to see Ricky.

* * *

For hollowmeadow. This one was inspired by the _Adrian going crazy bitch and breaking the window_ scene. Working on a John/Alexandria (Ben & Adrian's daughter) fic, so be on the lookout! :D

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	94. Paycheck

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Paycheck**

N, _a salary slip_

One week later, she's holding a crisp check made out in her name.

Then she realizes the check's not _really_ hers because she's working to pay off Ben.

She grimaces, wondering if this is what it feels like at income tax time. Walking over, holding out the check, Adrian misses Ben's eyebrows lifting in surprise. "Take it quick before I end up regretting it."

He pushes the paper back in her hand, "It's _your_ money, Adrian."

"But I'm supposed to pay _you_ back, so, here."

Ben purses his lips. "How about you keep the money in exchange for something else."

* * *

For Watashi no Sukinahito. Lol, Ben's preposition suddenly sounds naughty. _Hmmm_...

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	95. Quaint

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Quaint**

Adj,_ marked by skilful design_

His hand is on his door handle when she asks: "This isn't a sex trade, is it?" With a light-hearted smirk.

Ben's eyes widen in their sockets. "_No_! Of course not, I just...needed a consultant."

Adrian hums, "Is that what they call it nowadays?"

Ben sighs; he guesses he walked into that. Instead of responding back, he opens his bedroom door and she walks in, toffee eyes taking in every inch of the room, fingertips tracing his bedspread. "Nice room," The Latina murmurs under her breath and the she turns to him, confidence restored. "So, where should we start first?"

* * *

For Princess Pinky. I suppose this would be as their starting their "practice" lessons. Enjoy!

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	96. Restraint

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Restraint**

N, _the act of resisting_

She's a tease, and everyday Ben finds it harder and harder to resist her.

She sways down the school hallways in her tight denim jeans and flounces on the football field in her short flippy skirt and when her teeth tug on her full lower lip, it drives him absolutely crazy.

So far, he's counted every step she's taken to make her way into his life, and how many beats her heart makes a second.

Today, her hair is up in a ponytail, which irks him because he has perfect view of that slim, golden neck.

Adrian's lovely in red.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Crossover drabble! Part One With _Vampire Diaries_ (If you keep up with that show, you'll realize that the new cute vamp's name, is Ben. _Squee_!)

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	97. Serendipity

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Serendipity**

N, _a phenomenon in finding something not sought for_

She doesn't really believe in that sort of thing. It's like _Oh my goodness, we just happened to be at the same place, at the same time!_

That crap only happened in the movies. If you wanted something done, you had to do it yourself. If she wasn't curious enough to go looking for her dad, then he wouldn't be happily married to her mother today.

She left California for college, without Ricky. And now, four years later, walking down the streets of New York, she sees a piece of her past she never expected.

The Sausage King's butcher shop.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Adult Arc, tell me if I should continue?

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	98. Talent

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Talent**

N,_ the natural endowments of a person_

Adrian was good at many things. And one of those many things happened to be sex.

She actually rolls her eyes at him. "There _is_ no such thing as someone being good or bad at sex."

Ben frowns, brow furrowed. "My dad and Betty told me that there was."

She sighs. "Okay, _maybe_, there is a such thing," She mumbles. "_But_! It's because of inexperience, mostly."

"So, the more experience, the better you get," He thinks logically.

Her lips curl. "Something like that." _Or nothing like_ _that_.

"Well, Alice and Henry got better," He points out hopefully.

"Whatever you say…"

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Hmm, is it funny that this could've been the lead in to preggers!Arc? :D

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	99. Uvula

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Uvula**

N, _fleshy lobe at the back of the throat_

Leo opens Ben's door to fine Ben leaning against his headboard, reading a book, and Adrian on his bed, writing in her notebook.

And he knows something is up because, _come on_, he was their age once, and the _last_ thing he would think of doing if he were alone with a girl who looked like Adrian was _read_.

Besides, Ben's shirt is rumpled, and Adrian's hair seemed quickly smoothed in place.

"So, what's going on in here, Benjamin?"

_Playing tonsil hockey with one of the hottest girls at Grant High._

He doesn't look up. "Studying."

Leo's lips pursed. "_Right_."

* * *

For Princess Pinky. Lol, Ben tries _so hard_ to evade Leo, it's so cute. ;)

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	100. Victorious

**Word_pLaY_**

* * *

**Victorious**

N, a sense of fulfillment

This is like being a majorette. Only, it's so much more than that.

When Alice dropped out of _Glee_, the Asian girl practically begged Adrian to take her spot because no one could deny the Latina's agility when it came to dance. Her voice wasn't half bad either.

So, dragging Ben along because she refused to go alone, they walk into the choir room, reminiscent of how Amy and Ricky walk into _Band_.

The group is a bunch of misfits with a few cheerleaders (Adrian doesn't like these _Cheerios_) and jocks (Ben doesn't _do_ sports).

Somehow, it's a winning team.

* * *

For Princess Pinky. **DRABBLE ONE-HUNDRED**. Crossover drabble! Part One with _Glee_ (When Alice mentioned it last epsode, my heart soared). Remember to suggest the ones you want to see more of! :D

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	101. The Saga, Part One

_**The Saga**_

* * *

She drives up, calm, cool, and collectedly to the butcher shop.

She's clutching her cell phone in one hand and she hauls it into the air, making a beautiful arch before the glorious and inevitable crash.

When Adrian screams to the top of her lungs, she makes sure it's loud enough for everyone on the block to hear, and then she drives off.

* * *

Turns out?

It doesn't hit Ricky's window. Actually, it doesn't even get close.

So, after threatening – Ricky- and protesting –Adrian- Ricky finally goes to Rueben.

"This will teach you work ethic," Rueben states with crossed arms, staring down his daughter.

"But Ben paid for the window!" Adrian proclaims, as she has so many times.

"Right," Rueben nods, loosening his tie. "And you're going to pay _him_ back. Every dime, _entendes_?"

She finds herself with her dad at Ben's door, begging for a job that she doesn't want (and hoping he doesn't give it to her since _she_ broke the window).

She's unluckier than she thought because Leo agrees and the next day, she's wearing a hairnet and apron.

At least she gets to see Ricky.

* * *

One week later, she's holding a crisp check made out in her name.

Then she realizes the check's not _really_ hers because she's working to pay off Ben.

She grimaces, wondering if this is what it feels like at income tax time. Walking over, holding out the check, Adrian misses Ben's

eyebrows lifting in surprise. "Take it quick before I end up regretting it."

He pushes the paper back in her hand, "It's _your_ money, Adrian."

"But I'm supposed to pay _you_ back, so, here."

Ben purses his lips. "How about you keep the money in exchange for something else."

* * *

His hand is on his door handle when she asks: "This isn't a sex trade, is it?" With a light-hearted smirk.

Ben's eyes widen in their sockets. "_No_! Of course not, I just...needed a consultant."

Adrian hums, "Is that what they call it nowadays?"

Ben sighs; he guesses he walked into that. Instead of responding back, he opens his bedroom door and she walks in, toffee eyes taking in every inch of the room, fingertips tracing his bedspread. "Nice room," The Latina murmurs under her breath and the she turns to him, confidence restored. "So, where should we start first?"

Adrian was good at many things. And one of those many things happened to be sex.

She actually rolls her eyes at him. "There _is_ no such thing as someone being good or bad at sex."

Ben frowns, brow furrowed. "My dad and Betty told me that there was."

She sighs. "Okay, _maybe_, there is such a thing," She mumbles. "_But_! It's because of inexperience, mostly."

"So, the more experience, the better you get," He thinks logically.

Her lips curl. "Something like that." _Or nothing like_ _that_.

"Well, Alice and Henry got better," He points out hopefully.

"Whatever you say…"

* * *

They're standing in front of another now, this time in the privacy of his bedroom. Adrian sneaks precariously closer and Ben takes a step back.

"You don't know what you want," She remarks.

He shakes his head. He knows he doesn't want this. He takes another step back as she inches closer. "I want Amy," Ben blurts out, trying to convince himself.

"No you don't," She says, and his legs hit the foot of the bed. She reaches out and grasps his collar.

"D-Don't you want Ricky?"

"I'm tired of wanting something I can't have."

And she really can't have him. Because every time she gets close, he pushes her away. At work, at home, with his son. And she's tired of it.

She and Ben are dangerously close. Their breaths mingle and…

"Stop."

"Why?"

He's breathing heavily at this point, and he didn't know he said that out loud. "W-We're involved."

"Oh, _now _you admit it," She says with a smirk.

He specifics, "With Amy and Ricky." He swallows and licks his dry lips nervously, which Adrian curiously notices. "We really shouldn't do this."

"I do a lot of things I shouldn't do," Her eyes alluringly darken.

"We love other people," Ben says as an excuse.

"Are you sure?" She whispers to him pensively, still grasping his collar like a lifejacket.

He nods assumingly, nervously, even if he doubted it himself.

"Prove it."

She's twisting his perception of the world around him. She's making him writhe with her words and crumble under her stare.

Adrian's changing him.

"You don't love Amy."

And, just like that, his life flashes before his eyes. Life before Amy and life with Amy; he doesn't know about life after Amy because Amy was all that ever was and ever would be.

This isn't a question, merely a fact. Ben turns to her eyes widened and he shakes his head, though the action is useless.

She _knows_.

And now she's twisting his collar, curling his lips under her own.

* * *

She asked for proof and when he couldn't give her any, she took something else.

Adrian whispers the same question again: "Are you sure we love Ricky and Amy?"

Her head is on his chest and he's staring at the ceiling, playing with her dark tendrils of hair. "No," Ben replies. "I'm not."

They're silent for several moments, and then Adrian gets up. "I should go," She says quickly before he could ask. She's putting on her jeans and all he can do is stare.

"You don't have to," His throat constricts.

"It's not like you're asking me to stay." She mutters before zipping up her fly and slamming his bedroom door.

She's wrong.

* * *

Both girls are staring down each other from opposite sides of the lunch table the next day.

Ben shifts uncomfortably from Amy's side and Ricky's hands are shoved in his pockets, looking anywhere but at the exchange.

"So, you make sure _not_ to touch my boyfriend-"

"And you make sure to keep your slutty hands _off_ my baby." Amy smiled falsely, green eyes menacing.

Adrian's smirk grew. "John seemed to enjoy it. Ricky, too."

Amy shifts in her seat, feathers ruffled. "Oh, I suppose you're a child molester, too." Amy said quietly, meeting Adrian's infuriated glare.

"You know what-!"

"That's enough," Ben intervened.

Amy looks up at him, shocked, and Adrian smirks, standing up: "We're done here," She says aloud to Ricky. "I think if I stay here any longer, I'll be just as lame as these two."

Ben looks at her, and when she looks back at him over Ricky's arm, she sends him a wink.

He can't make heads or tails of this girl.

At all.

"She's playing you," Alice says dryly, after he relays the tale.

Ben's staring at his ceiling, and he sighs deeply. "What do I do?"

"The smart thing, end it," Alice says incredulously. "You're cheating on Amy!" She practically screeches.

Actually, he's had suspicions of something, just _something,_ occurring between Amy and Ricky, but he thinks that if he voices it, it'll become real.

"It's not that simple," Henry says to Alice. "I mean, she _is _pretty hot."

Ben can't see, but he pretty much knows that Alice is glaring at Henry right now.

* * *

Ben goes over to the Juergens' residence that night. He has pizza and flowers and he's standing at Amy's front door, ready to repent for doing what he was doing. He vows to never do it again.

Until it's not Amy who opens the door, it's Ricky. And it's not him who made her laugh in the background, Ricky did.

Ben leaves, broken-hearted.

He sits outside in his car, for the longest time. Seconds, minutes, hours, he doesn't know, but he hears a tap on the glass.

Adrian's smiling face is on the other side, and his fingers flick the unlock button.

They talk for a while, a long while. And then they make out in front of Amy's house, repeating the same dirty cycle.

And then her robe slips off, and Ben's hand goes to the side of his seat as she straddles him over the driving column. Her lips are whispering on his skin and that sets him on fire because he presses his fingertips into her soft flesh of her hips. She kisses him and it's as if they're releasing their frustrations, both for Amy and Ricky. Ben deepens the contact, holding the back of her neck with one hand. When she grabs a hold of him in her hands, stroking his length and leading him to her, he moans because it's ecstasy he's never felt before.

Adrian grounds herself down onto him and they're moving in frenzied movements. She settles down onto him, and the feeling is euphoric until she starts moving. Then it's Nirvana. And they're in such perfect sync that it doesn't even occur to him whether or not they could, or should, do this.

She's grinding harder, faster, stronger.

And then the condom breaks.

She's breathing heavily into the collar of his shirt, and the condom broke. His mind blanks. He's sure that there's something wrong with that, but right now, in Adrian's arms, he can't think of what. He's hyperventilating and he's numb because he can't believe this has happened after losing his virginity, and she freezes momentarily before remembering that she is indeed on the pill and is generally sexually safe. The condom breaking won't be the end of her, its fine. They're both fine. She's telling him to not worry, that she's been taking care of it, and that everything is (should) be fine.

"Are you-are you okay?" Her throat feels like its closing. _This was not a mistake, this was not a mistake,_ is what a little voice keeps saying in her head, but she's finding it harder and harder to believe it. Why did it feel _so good _those other times, but just not…this one.

He nods, still finding it hard to breath at the moment. "I should go, it's late," He says quietly.

It shouldn't hurt her when he says this, but it does.

* * *

With academics, she was top marks everytime. With athletics, she was lead majorette on varsity and one of the best track runners Grant High had seen in a while.

So how could she forget something as big as Ben's date with Amy? Because _their_ date meant _her_ time alone. With Ricky.

Maybe they forgot when their clothes shed from their skin, or something. And maybe she began doing other things she deemed more important, and more pleasurable, at the time. Maybe Ben forgot too.

The next day, Ben's words echoed in her mind.

"Ricky stayed at Amy's house last night."

After he said that, all forlorn expression and ashamed, she freezes.

Then, she moves to walk off, without him.

Ben chases after her.

"Talk to me."

They're in an empty hallway and he's holding her by her shoulders.

"No."

"Adrian, please…"He trails off elliptically, pleading.

"Let me go, Ben."

Her toffee eyes are steel and he loosens his grip.

For the past few weeks, they didn't talk and not because he hadn't tried. He called, she screened. He waved, she ignored. Now he had enough. "Are you going to pretend nothing happened?"

"Yes," She answers and moves past him.

He moves in front of her. "Why?"

She can't tell him, so she says, "I love Ricky," instead.

"You don't know what you want."

She knows she's being a bitch, especially since she started all of this.

She doesn't care.

* * *

This happened when he got to close. This happened when he said things he shouldn't say, and this happened when he threw her words back in her face.

His cheeks stings, but it's nothing compared to that glare she's directing at him.

"Who the Hell do you think you are saying that?" Adrian's more than a head shorter, but she's proverbially towering over him.

"You don't know me, and you don't know what I feel, so when I say 'I love Ricky', _I mean it_."

She's right.

He _doesn't_ know her.

He knows everything about her.

Mind.

Body.

Soul.

_Everything_.

He doesn't tell her this though. She likes to have the upper hand, and he'll let her.

For awhile.

So when she saunters off furiously, he's left holding his cheek.

* * *

Ricky slings his arm over Adrian's shoulder before she even acknowledges his presence; only, she's too annoyed to be comforted by it. She should be, but damn that goodie goodie two shoes for screwing with her the same way she did with him.

Ricky's hot breath tickles in her ear, and she smiles until she hears the words coming from his lips.

"You've been hanging out with Ben a lot," Ricky accused.

Adrian smirks, and then turns toward him, "You've been hanging out with Amy a lot," Adrian answered.

"She's my kid's mother."

"He's my boyfriend's co-worker."

Ricky crossed his arms and craned his head to the side.

"You know, we could do this all day," Adrian remarks.

"Don't want to," He answers tersely.

"Then have fun with Amy," She says flippantly and slams her locker. Ricky grabs her wrist and she glares. "Let me go."

"Not until you tell me you slept with Ben."

Her toffee eyes widen, until they narrow. "Well, I'd ask you the same thing, except you did that already, didn't you?"

She knows he's her boyfriend.

Her untrustworthy, cheating boyfriend.

So if he can go around cheating on her, two can play that game.

* * *

"Why can't you say it?"

Ben turned to face Amy staring at him hard pressed with her hands on her hips and glaring green eyes. "I don't know what you're -"

"Shut up," She snapped. "All you do now is lie to me because you can't even look me in the face and say…" She trails off, teary eyed. "_I _can't even say it."

He watches her pace about the kitchen, a habit she does when she's agitated.

"Maybe I _am_ better off with Ricky," She spat bitterly. "If I can't trust my own boyfriend, then I shouldn't have one."

Ben almost wants to agree, he does. But he can't. He feels stuck between a rock and a hard place. He's pretty sure he, in some childish way, wants Adrian, but he's also sure that he loves Amy. She's only saying the things she's saying because she's mad, he's sure. She can't really mean it.

It was his fault anyways, for going along, and doing what he was doing with Adrian.

"I'm sorry," Ben says hoarsely, pitifully. "I thought that…I don't know, I was just jealous. I was just so jealous of Ricky, and Adrian-"

"Get out," Amy says, not even looking at him. And when she does, he wished she didn't. "Get out of my house."

So, he goes. And if he happened to go next door to where Adrian lived, it was no one's business.

Adrian was all about _'keeping it real'_ and _'standing up for what you believe in'_ and all that other crap they tell you on PBS specials. She was.

She just didn't see why she was _The Slut_ when Amy Juergens walked around her freshman year with a big pregnant belly because she didn't know what a condom was. Or the pill. Or Hell, even the fact that sex made babies. Anyways…

Yes, she understood she slept around, but as long as she was safe and no babies came from the union, it was no one's business anyways.

Ben didn't mind.

When it came to girls, let's just say that Ben Boykewich was a little less than experienced. Okay, a _whole_ lot less. Alice was right, he needed practice.

Lots and lots of practice before he'd even know what to do. According to his father and Betty, there _was_ such a thing as bad sex, so, how could he correct this egregious oversight?

"Well," Adrian crawled on top of his midsection with a smirk on her pouty lips. "They say practice makes perfect."

They happen to say a lot of things, he thought. Just not how he got in that situation.

He always had the best of everything in life; best food, best clothes, best friends and though he isn't spoiled, even he will admit to being born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

She wasn't born with the best; her mother barely made ends meet to pay bills for their small condo, but here was the difference.

She demanded the best.

That's why she's living in a house now –next to his ex no less- and that's why she's on top of him in her bedroom.

She was the best-and only- he's ever had, and she never made him forget.

They started doing their 'practice lessons' every evening at about six o'clock.

The location: Ben's bedroom, and occasionally Adrian's when Ruben wasn't home.

Remarkably, though Ben hadn't really done too much in other areas, he was one of the best kissers she'd ever kissed. "Probably all those times you kissed Amy," She whispered breathlessly before their lips met. "It's not like you could've done much else..."

She had a few tricks up her sleeve. Like grabbing his hair at the crown of his head and leaving bites and kisses down the nape of his neck.

"Bet Amy never did that."

She wants him to forget, and he wants to get better, so it's a give-take relationship they've established.

Except when they see Amy go to Ricky the next day at school, flirty smile and all, they become serious.

And that's when things get real.

They start making out in public places, no longer confined to their bedrooms. At first it would be Adrian to seek out Ben, sometimes taking him by surprise between class change and always desperately clinging to his button down collar, like it was a life jacket. She still has to deal with Ricky at work, so during their 15 minute break, Adrian will practically jump Ben behind the butcher shop, once almost caught by Bunny.

He knows she's doing this because she wants to get caught, but maybe, in a way, he wants to get caught too.

They're alone in Adrian's bedroom and they're naked, hazy from the pleasures of sex. Adrian is lying on his chest with a smile and Ben is tracing circles on the small of her back.

"I've never had a guy stay the entire night, except once," She murmured.

"Was it Ricky?" Ben inadvertently asked.

Adrian looks up, and shakes her head and her curls. "My first love, if you can believe that." He's quiet and she continues thoughtfully, "We were like you and Amy, once."

She doesn't know why she said that, she shouldn't have said that. Because she and Antonio never had to make sex an issue, she and Antonio were just content to be. To be together. "What happened?" He asks.

Her eyes glisten, "He was too good for me, so God took him away."

He's quiet after that, and so is she because that's what she feels. She's not supposed to be happy, ever. Whether it's one guy purposefully breaking her heart or another guy unknowingly doing it every time he looks ardently at Amy, she's just not supposed to be happy.

So, if she holds him closer, and if he stays the whole night, it doesn't mean anything. She can't afford to get too close, and she can't afford to mess up this little fantasy world she has every time she falls in Ben's arms.

It'll ruin everything.

* * *

The school hierarchy was this:

The band was nationally ranked. The majorettes were regional showstoppers. The cheerleaders stole their routines. And the football team was Grant's pride & joy.

So after Amy finished her set with Ricky and her fellow band mates before halftime, the cheerleaders go next, drawing boos from the crowd at the display, including Grace.

Adrian twirls her baton loosely, keeping her anger in check. She turns to the stands and makes eye contact with Ben whose face is rightfully irritated. She had showed him the dance earlier in the week.

_Screw_ the cheer_followers._

The show must go on.

The drumline begins and Adrian leads the pack with a pirouetting tumble. Her movements are sharper and she's moving faster, fueled by her anger.

It doesn't help that when she sees Ricky at the front of the line, he's looking over at brass section. At Amy.

Her baton does one more elegant triple twirl in the air before falling precisely in her hand.

The pep rally commences after that, and Coach's voice is blaring through the speakers, but Ben can barely hear because Adrian's grinding on him, and he's pressed up against the locker walls.

He notices things. Like, if she's mad, she'll take out her frustrations on his lips. Only, he supposes he's mad too because he saw that look Amy gave Ricky, of adoration and genuine sincerity, so his hands trail up Adrian's legs that are wrapped around his waist and when he reaches her firm rear underneath her majorette skirt, he squeezes without thinking.

The crowd in the gym applauds.

This only prompts her to plunder his lips further.

* * *

Leo opens Ben's door to find Ben leaning against his headboard, reading a book, and Adrian on his bed, writing in her notebook. And he knows something is up because, _come on_, he was their age once, and the _last_ thing he would think of doing if he were alone with a girl who looked like Adrian was _read_.

Besides, Ben's shirt is rumpled, and Adrian's hair seemed quickly smoothed in place.

"So, what's going on in here, Benjamin?"

_Playing tonsil hockey with one of the hottest girls at Grant High._

He doesn't look up. "Studying."

Leo's lips pursed. "_Right_." He looks over at Adrian and she's smirking into her work. "Well, dinner will be done soon; Betty's trying a new recipe. Adrian, would you like to stay?"

She's not showing it when she looks at the Sausage King, but she's shocked by the invite. She nods, "That'll be great, I just have to ask my father for permission."

Ben looks over; he knows she won't ask. She'll just say that she's staying, she'll be home soon, and that'll be that, but he doesn't voice it.

He's surprised when she actually asks, but he doesn't voice that either.

* * *

They're just friends, is what they would say. When Ricky would threaten Ben to stay away from her within an inch of his life while Adrian is on break at the butcher shop, and Amy gives him that smoldering glare.

The one she gives him when they broach on the sex topic.

He knows he shouldn't be having sex, especially with her, but…

He just can't stop.

* * *

It was one of those lazy days where they cuddled because she wanted someone to just _hold_ her. Ben was looking into her eyes and playing with her long dark curls.

"I think I'm breaking up with Ricky," Adrian said abruptly, telling him because he was one of those people she felt compelled to tell.

His fingers stopped their ministrations. "Remember when you told me I didn't know what I wanted?"

Adrian nods, slightly on edge.

"I think I do…I just don't know how to get it," He murmurs, staring at the ceiling and playing with her hair.

"Try asking." She spits out.

She sits up, and he can't see the tears welling in her eyes before she leaves.

* * *

"Ben, I think," Amy bites her lower lip before continuing. "I think you should break up with me."

Ben's almond eyes widen. He turns to her, and the word 'Why?' is already on his lips, but she stops him.

"I know you want to," She accuses. "And we haven't been spending time with each other, and that's my fault too, but I know you're not happy with me. So, just do it. Break up with me."

Adrian sees them talking on the other side of the hall, and her eyes narrow and burn.

She doesn't think she can take it anymore.

So, she stalks up to Ricky, hips swaying, and her lips take hold of his lower one. She's sickened with herself, but she doesn't care because Ricky pulls back and smirks at her, and her heart jumps in her throat.

"Come over tonight," She whispers to him.

It's Friday, and he looks inconvenienced for a moment, "It's my night to take John for the weekend."

Dammit.

"Leave him with Amy for tonight, and pick him up tomorrow," She says quickly.

"That's not how it works Adrian," He says dryly. "Its court appointed time, we can't just-"

"Yes, you can!" Adrian exclaims. She's seething, but she knows that if she wants this, she needs to stroke his ego. "We haven't been with each other all week, longer even! So, ask Amy if she could hold him, at least until tomorrow morning."

"That's not the problem, Adrian," Ricky persists. "He's my son; I haven't seen him as long as I would want to all week either."

Oh, so, it's like that?

"Fine," Adrian grits out. "Then I guess I _won't_ be seeing you later."

She whips around, cursing expletives underneath her breath in the hallway.

* * *

It's New Year's Eve and the Sausage King holds a banquet for employees at one of his restaurant chains.

Ben brought Amy. And when the teenaged mother asks why, he says that there just wasn't anyone else he imagined going with –even if there was.

Ricky brought Adrian. Ben winces when he sees her enter in on Ricky's arm, wearing a Christmas red dress that accentuated her curves.

And for the first time, both girls were civil with one another, which confused their significant others. Because of holiday spirit and good will, they all celebrated with glasses of eggnog and champagne. Later, Adrian stepped outside and Ben followed while Amy and Ricky talked.

"I've been thinking about asking for what I want," He says. He doesn't know why, but he just can't get that image of her clutching Ricky's arm, and wondering why it isn't his that she was clutching onto.

He knows he's being pathetic right now.

"Don't ruin tonight, Ben. Please." Adrian whispers. She turns to look t him then, and her big toffee eyes breathe desperation. For the first time in a very, very long while, she and Ricky are actually out, doing what others –and secretly her- consider to be fun, versus staying in and just having sex. It's perfect, and she just wants to revel in it.

And besides, Ben had a choice, and he chose Amy. This isn't her fault.

"I just…I need this, Ben." She continues, "I need tonight."

The final countdown strikes zero and Adrian enters the New Year in Ricky's arms.

Not Ben's.

* * *

Her phone vibrates on the table later on. Once. Twice.

The third time, she picks up the cell phone and frowns. Ben. She's surprised he's even calling her, she would've thought that he would've been over at Amy's, serenading the teen mother or something else equally lame. She picks up, "What?" She asks absently.

"She wants me to break up with her," He blurts out before she could hang up on him.

Adrian pauses. "O-kayyyy…"

Ben fidgets from his end. "I…I think I want to."

Adrian sighs, "So?" She begins, crossing her arms. "What does this have to do with me?"

"I wanted to know your opinion on it," He says tentatively.

"You already know," She sounds out lowly. "And you know what? If you have to ask, then obviously, you don't really want to do it. To do _this_." And when he doesn't answer, the silence deafening in her ear, the back of her eyes burn. "Call me when you grow up and decide what you _really _want."

* * *

The spring is coming in. It should be great, happy even.

But she hasn't had a monthly in over a month, and that's a serious problem. Her skin's been a few shades paler than usual and she just switched pills, and she's freaking the fuck out because she and Ricky haven't had sex in what feels like forever. And the guy she has had sex with is still in love with someone else.

Ashley's just…staring at her in the kitchen, and her expression is one of disbelief and pity.

Adrian hates pity; despises it, even. And God, how could she be so _stupid!_

She thinks of John, and how, through everything, he brought them all together. But this? This…_baby_ within her? It'll tear them apart, it'll ruin everything. Her eyes well up, she's lost, and scared, and _how could she be so stupid?_

She runs across both backyards, to the joining sidewalk, through her house, up the stairs. She doesn't stop running until she grabs her cell phone from her desk and dials number three on her speed dial.

It rings. Twice. Three times.

And then he picks up. "Adrian?"

Her throat wants to close at the sound of his voice, but she swallows past the lump in her throat. "I…Ben, we need to talk."

* * *

Part One of _**The Saga **-which will consist of WordpLaY drabbles, along with other whatnots that were added for continuity. I took FOREVER before deciding to finnally post this -don't worry, more drabbles -chapters 102-112- coming soon. And then _Part Two _will be posted._

_DAC_


	102. Wanted

**Word**_pLaY_

* * *

**Wanted**

V, _to wish or demand the presence of_

_to desire to come, go, or be_

_to fail to possess _

* * *

Adrian Lee's eyes were brown.

Well, actually, no. They were more like...how would he describe it? Oh yeah, they were like a deep and dark chestnut that fades into black when she's upset, honeyed when she's sad. He can't explain it, but Adrian's eyes? The most expressive he's ever seen, and that includes Amy when she cries. See, Amy will cry, but there's always a guard up above her irises, like she wanted you to know she was hurting, but she didn't want you to know _why _she was hurting. That was for you to figure out.

But with Adrian? There were no games. There were no long drawn out supportive speeches needed to get her to open up because she would just let it all out and wash over you, like a tidal wave. And she was just always so _strong, _as if she would evoke some higher being into herself.

But then, when she _cries_, like really cries, you could just feel the walls around her crumbling down, and she's letting it all out, and her eyes turn a different color. It's real and honest and so much more than just brown; they're _hers_.

He doesn't want to sound cocky or anything, but he thinks he's the only one to truly see her like that.

Excuse him for thinking that made him special in her world.

"You _are _special in my world, Ben," Adrian says with an exasperated huff and a roll of her eyes. "You're the father of my child and my best friend, but you're not-"

"Good enough to sleep with. _Again._" He says, staring up at his ceiling. Of course not. She gets to be pregnant and play the field and he just gets to just be _there_.

She cranes her head to the side. "You're not being fair."

Ben lifts his head and looks at her incredulously, "_I'm _not being fair?"

"Yeah," The Latina reiterates, crossing her arms under her swelled breasts. And yes, he does feel bad for noticing that they have swelled, but how could he _not?_ "First, you've been getting all protective, and _I'm a big girl. _I can handle myself. And anyways, you like Amy and Grace, so why should it matter if I want a boyfriend or not? I mean, I want you to still go out and enjoy being a teenager, why can't you want the same for me?"

"Because I don't want you to have a boyfriend," Ben states cautiously, but firm. There, he said it.

"But _why_?" She stresses with a whine in her voice.

"You're the mother of my child; _our _child." Ben stresses, just as he always does when they have this disagreement. Adrian glowers, walking towards him on the bed.

"You had no problem with Amy going out with you when she was with John, her and _Ricky's _child." Her arms are still crossed indignantly and he turns to her.

"That's different."

"How is it different, Ben?" She yells, becoming frustrated.

He sits up, equally aggravated, "Because you're the first girl I've ever slept with, and you're my friend, a-and I don't want some other guy touching you. I don't want _any _guy touching you."

"That's not your decision, Ben." Adrian says slowly, calmly. After a moment or two, her head cranes accusingly to the side and her eyes narrow in consideration. "You're jealous."

Ben's eyes widen and you can see the anger leave his big almond irises. "What -no. I-I'm not _jealous_, I just-"

"Don't want me to go out with someone else, and _hate _the idea of someone else touching me, and I can't be_lieve _Ricky was right," Adrian says in an exasperated rush with a shake of her head. Why couldn't she have seen this _earlier_? She looks back to his confused face with a stiff upper lip. "I'm going out tonight with a guy I never really gave a chance to, and you're not going to stop me Ben Boykewich."

"And if I don't want you to?" Ben says, looking up at her from his seat on the edge of the bed. His eyes drift to that slight bump where her midsection is.

Adrian gives a careless shrug. "So be it. It's not fair that you get to go out and have fun while I sit at home and play wife. Oh, wait!" She says sarcastically. "We're not _married_, so I don't have to." She turns to the door and Ben stands, catching her by her wrist.

"You're not going to sleep with him, are you?"

With contempt in her narrowed toffee brown eyes, Adrian retracts her wrist from his grasp and replies, "Already have."

Ben's jaw slacks as the door slams shut.

* * *

"Okay, seriously, what are we doing?" Henry asks from the passenger seat, and Ben grips the steering wheel again as he passes another green light.

"Driving." Ben answers curtly.

"You wouldn't happen to be following Adrian on her date, would you?" Alice asks with a piqued brow in the back seat.

Henry catches on and looks at Ben in the driver's seat with a shake of his head, "That's so messed up. I mean, I know that's your girl with your kid, but-"

"She's not my girl!" Ben says, gripping the wheel so tight that his knuckles become white under the pressure.

"Did you tell her how you felt about the situation?" Alice asks gently.

Ben sighs, "Of course I did. Not that it mattered because Adrian just does what she wants, without any consideration about who she hurts or anyone around her! She walks around like it's _Adrian's world _and everyone else just doesn't matter-"

During Ben's tirade, Henry and Alice exchange looks with concerned frowns.

"-She's selfish and rude and _loose _and she drives me crazy because I don't understand how anyone can be like that! She's just so, _argh_!"

_She drives me nuts!_

"So, uh..." Henry says after a tense moment. "Tell us how you _really _feel."

Ben's mouth is clamped shut in a harsh line as the car slows and parks outside of the Dairy Shack. After a moment, Adrian emerges from the front, contently sipping a milkshake with her eyes closed in ecstasy and she is followed by her _date_, with his _slick _black hair and _chiseled _chin, guiding her on the low of her back with his hand and _handsome _smile.

"She just couldn't _wait _to go out on this date, and do you see where he takes her? _Dairy Shack_." Ben says with a huff.

Leaning her head in-between the seats upfront, Alice asks, "What's wrong with Dairy Shack?"

"It's not exactly a reputable restaurant, Alice. And look at him, he looks like a player!" Ben proclaims, which causes Henry to snicker.

Alice frowns, "But Ricardo's actually really nice."

Ben's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. "_Ricardo_?"

"Oh, no." Henry murmurs.

"His _name _is _Ricardo_? As in like, the Spanish version of _Ricky_?" Ben nearly trills, looking to Alice in the back seat for answers.

"Well, actually, it's more like the cognitive of _Richard_, but..." Alice says, looking out the window where she could see Adrian sit carefully on a secluded bench close to Ricardo. He whispers something in her ear, and she laughs, whispering back in his.

Ben silently seethes in the front seat when _Ricardo's _hand just _happens _to fall on Adrian's _bare _knee. Her hair was impeccably curled, like always, and she's wearing a hot pink tunic that stretches smoothly over her baby bump and denim shorts that ride up to her sun-kissed thighs. He shouldn't be bothered by this, _he shouldn't be bothered by this_, but he is.

He's never been a fighter. He's never been an extremely primal human being, except when it comes to women he cares for. He's fought for Amy, been possessive of Amy. But Adrian just _isn't _Amy and he doesn't know nor understand why he feels like this.

Adrian seems to notice his hand on her knee and she puts her hand on it before it can make it's slow ascension up her leg. Ben almost unlocks his car door, but Henry stops him -"Dude, you gotta let her make her own decisions, unless you wanna lose her forever"- and he sits and waits. Stews. Glares. But waits.

* * *

They're back in Ben's room and he's running a trail through his carpet, while Henry and Alice lounge on the bed.

Pace. _Turn_. Pace. _Turn_. Pace. _Turn_.

"You know, your dad's not gonna like it if there's a hole in the ceiling tomorrow morning," Henry says jokingly, to break the stark tension.

"They're probably making out by now," Ben says, mostly to himself. "He's probably still touching her and she's probably letting him."

"You're going to drive yourself crazy, Ben." Alice says lightly, feeling for her friend, and knowing how jealousy can just eat away at you. "You've got to distract yourself."

"By doing what?" Ben asks incredibly and wide-eyed.

"Going out. Playing cribbage. Playing golf with Betty. _Anything_, really," Henry says lightly. "This isn't healthy."

Ben knows his friends are right.

Ben also knows that it's close to 11, that he hasn't heard back from Adrian, and that if she's not doing something -like _making out _or _God know what_- she's usually in bed by this time.

Damn it.

He paces around the room again, only to be shocked when his bedroom door snaps open.

Adrian walks in, imposing at around 5'3 and her eyes sear through Ben's before landing on Alice and Henry. With her hands on her widening hips, she says, "Yin. Yang. _Scram_."

"This isn't your room," Alice says affronted.

"Right." Adrian agrees with a narrow of her eyes. "But _that _is my baby's father," She says, pointing at Ben with her manicured index finger. "_Out_."

"Don't have to tell us twice; 'cmon Alice." Henry says, grabbing her by the wrist.

"Don't manhandle me, _Hank_," Alice says threateningly as she exits the room behind him, shutting the door.

He's had so many words for her this evening, and now that he's alone with her, he has nothing to say. Ben struggles to find something, anything, to say, but in four steps, Adrian crosses the room to stand in front of him.

And then his face snaps back from the slap she delivered. He cradles his cheek and turns back to her, alarmed. "What was that for?"

"You followed me tonight!" Adrian accused hotly with conviction, toffee eyes dark and blazing.

Ben presses his fingers into his reddening cheek, from the blow and embarrassment. "No I didn't," He mumbles out.

"_Bullshit_!"

The Sausage Prince sighs heavily. "Fine, I did follow you to Dairy Shack, but I went home after that, I swear..."

Adrian glares at him critically.

"...and, maybe I took a detour to the movies."

"I _knew _I heard something behind us!"

"He was getting _handsy _with you!" Ben fires back, "Mister _Rico Suave _was getting handsy with you!" He pauses. "And seriously? You went out with a guy named _Ricardo_? To _Dairy Shack_? Is he that cheap?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I had a craving," Adrian rolls her eyes. "And I hooked up with him last summer when Ricky was cheating on me."

"Yeah, that's your default reaction, isn't it? Ricky cheats on you, and so you hookup with some guy and hope that it makes Ricky jealous."

"_Before_!" Adrian snarls. "And you know what, Ricky doesn't control what I do, or you for that matter."

"Is that why you let him touch you?" Ben asks lowly, "Because you don't care what I say or do about it? Are you _really _that selfish?"

Adrian's eyes widen and she's taken aback by his words. Her hands lower to her swelled abdomen -her new default- and he immediately feels like smacking himself. He doesn't ask or give any indication, he just wraps his arms around her. He feels like that jerk Ricky told him he was becoming; he isn't supposed to be scolding her and tearing her down, he's supposed to be her rock.

"I'm sorry," Ben says after a few quiet moments. He swallows past the hard lump in his throat, "I was out of line. I just..." He contemplates about the past few weeks and how they've managed to get closer throughout all of the drama -she usually wears the ring he gave her on her left hand, she took it off tonight- but he thinks that the closer they become to being parents is the farther they become from being anything other than that. His prior love for Amy is what made him push Adrian, and he guesses that the same thing can be said about her with Ricky but he can't really deny it anymore. He's never felt this jealous before -ever.

"...I really like you, Adrian."

She looks up at him in his embrace, "Is that your excuse?"

"No, it's not." He says, looking down at her, "I just care about you and... I know that we're not really together, that we're just friends having a baby, but I care about you. More than anyone else right now. And I..." Ben stops himself before he can say the words.

"You, what?" Adrian asks lowly. Her eyes are big and brown and _pleading. Don't say it, don't say it._

"I want you."

She immediately slinks out of his grasp and takes a step back. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't expecting that. "I love _Ricky_," She blurts out automatically , like she'd been holding back on saying those words for the longest.

He sticks his hands in his front jean pockets at first, and sighs. "I know. That doesn't change how I feel."

"And what about how _I_ feel?" Adrian yells. "You can't just say something like that-"

"Why not?" Ben says calmly. "Does it make you feel guilty?"

"No. _I've _always loved Ricky, just like _you've _always loved Amy. We're just _friends_, Ben!"

"And that's where you're wrong, Adrian. We're not _just _friends at this point and sometimes, I wonder if you do even love Ricky." Ben states, taking a tentative step towards her.

"Of course I love Ricky," Adrian lifts her chin defiantly.

She stands her ground as he inches closer, and critically eye each other until she is shocked into momentary silence from the next two words out of his mouth: "Kiss me."

His head is angled over hers and his stance is so controlled and relaxed, even while she openly gapes at him. "No," She cuts out quickly and shrilly, alarmed at this new possibility.

"You love Ricky, right?"

"Right."

"So kiss me." Ben retorts firmly, "One kiss won't make you stop loving him."

"I don't have to prove anything to you," Adrian states, still upholding her strong guard.

"And yourself?"

"I _know _what I want."

Ben only inches closer and he's practically brushing her swelled tummy with his lean frame. He's so close that he can count every long, finely spaced eyelash that brushes her cheek. "So do I," He replies, his thinner lips ghosting over her supple sweet ones. His eyes become hooded and flit down to hers and if she really wanted to -_really _really wanted to- she could've backed away and walked out of his room.

Which is why he's surprised when she leans up ever so slightly and their lips are brushing each other in a tentative kiss. Seeing this as her giving him permission, he immeidately grabs hold of her and and cradles her smaller frame in his arms. Her small hands creep up his torso and wrap around his slim neck, manicured fingers trailing through the downy hairs there. And Ben keeps his hands firmly on the low of her back past her baby bump because as much as he wants this -wants her- and wants to keep doing this, he doesn't want her to feel as if he's holding her against her will. Not that he could, anyways.

Her head cranes and his lips part slightly, allowing her to delve into his mouth with her tongue. As soft and gentle as the kiss began, it becomes desperate and rushed when she tugs onto him tighter and his hands trail up and down her back with conviction as he plunders her lips. She still tastes as deeply sweet and undiscovered as that night in his car those months ago, and his fingers run through the curls trailing down her back.

They part, momentarily, dark eyes hooded and breaths intermingling with one another. And then: "I should...I have to go," Adrian whispers on his numbed lips. "It's late."

"You don't _have _to go," Ben says, but Adrian's already backing away, shaking her head and trying to smooth out her tousled curls. Her lips are swelled out and her hair is properly mussed and her eyes are dark, but honeyed. Like she had been making out. Like she had been making out with _him _because behind the shock and fear is unadulterated lust underlying and he _knows _that she has to be holding herself back.

"I shouldn't have come here tonight," Adrian says, mostly muttering to herself, and Ben deflates. Turning to the bedroom door, she grabs the handle, "I-I'll see you at school."

"Are we still friends, Adrian?" Ben says, and her hand stills on the knob.

"I don't know, Ben." The teenage Latina whispers in the quiet room, turned away from him with her hand going to her abdomen.

"You said that you always _wanted _us to stay friends," Ben replies somberly, a bit hurt by her prior statement.

"I know," She agrees, suddenly saddened by this fact. "I don't know what I want," She answers honestly. She turns her head to look at him, "And neither do you. You only think you want me because of this baby and because I was your first, Ben. But you don't really want _me._" She states lowly, toffee eyes downcast and glittering in the dim bedroom light. "Goodnight Ben."

"You're wrong, Adrian. _Stay_."

They maintain eye contact for one more moment, and then she exits, closing the door behind her with an audible _click_.

* * *

I should just rename this _The Story That Will Never End_ because I doubt very much that it actually will. So, before anything, I want to thank **hollowmeadow **-just for being an awesome Bendrian bff- **soren919**, **jojobvco**, and **Watashi No Sukinahito **-for the continuous support- **basicHBKnomics **and **Priyu0624 **-for being the best BAd fans EVER. And **meghann . 16 . xx **-for being a fellow Bendrian writer and being all around awesome (duh).

**BTW**: Ricardo is seen on the show. He's the (_hot, yet sweet_) Hispanic guy Adrian cheats with that summer. I just gave him a name. xD

DAC


	103. x

__

**Word**_pLaY_

* * *

**X**

_N, of such a nature that admission is denied to persons under a specified age (as 17) —used before the adoption of NC-17_

_

* * *

_

**_This ficlet is rated M._**

_

* * *

_

Adrian's well aware of Ben's obsession with Amy; Hell, it's even a little funny and quirky –kind of like him. And it strangely makes her feel better. She knows she was seen as Ricky's paranoid girlfriend, but Ben takes the prize over _possessiveness_, so she sometimes takes it easy with him –and if it's because he's crazi(_er_) and more possessive that _she_ is, it's no one's business.

But he's improving. In fact, possibly _over_ it at this point, which is not only an achievement in of itself, but a _feat_.

And her? Well, she guesses she can say the same thing too.

_The only way to truly get over someone, was to get underneath someone else. _So she's heard.

And she's been thinking about _gettingundersomeoneelse _for the longest now. Not Ricky. Not even a guy with a distinctive face. Just _anyone –_yes, she's aware that's kinda sluttish sounding, but she's very hormonal and pregnant and dammit, she deserves someone too. Over time, a face seemed as if it were being carved into her mind like marble. And then, as he stands in front of her, clasping her hand as the gorgeous sapphire ring he gave her sits heavy on her finger, suddenly that guy becomes all too clear.

She's not perfect, by any means.

He's not either, despite her initial thoughts.

But this, together, holding hands, laying in her bed, _this_ was _utter perfection_.

So, she kind of sneaks a seductive glance his way and it's such a shame that he's onto her.

"That's the _same_ look you gave me that night in the car, Adrian," Ben says reproachfully, eyeing her unnoticeable belly.

"_Hmm_," She hums, suddenly very intrigued by his collar, and the fact that he _only_ leaves the top button undone. "You don't say."

"I _do_ say, and…" His sentence dies there because Adrian unbuttons the second button, and then the third, working on the fourth.

He doesn't even fight it, just _sighs_. "You know I have to go home."

"You don't _have_ to."

"But I should." He pauses and she's nearly opened his shirt midway when he asks. "And what does unbuttoning my shirt have to do with me leaving or not?"

"I figure that if I make you comfortable enough, you'll just get lazy and stay." As she says this, she punctuates it by unbuttoning another button. His shirt lies completely open. There's still a flimsy undershirt underneath, she can feel the heat permeating from his torso through it. She traces invisible shapes over his covered abdomen, feeling the lean muscles go taut and still. His eyes are slightly wide and watch the movement steadily, but he says nothing. She knows he's contemplating: _is it right to stay, or should I be a gentleman and leave?_ And she's actually hoping for the former rather than the latter in all of this.

"We shouldn't have sex, Adrian," Ben says firmly. "Not today."

"I know," She says lowly, looking up at him with imploring toffee eyes. "I still want you to stay."

It doesn't take much to convince him after that, especially when she hooks her arm around his midsection and settles herself into the crook of his neck.

* * *

So, here was the usual process.

_Eyes_. _Smile_. A _flirty_ touch of the arm, and a _little_ bit of cleavage. That was all it took.

She knows that it's not the fact that she's pregnant. If anything, everyone says that she _glows_ now and guys still check out her backside when they think she's not looking. As if she _doesn't_ know.

But attracting all of this meaningless attention from random guys just doesn't carry the same satisfaction that it used to. Not when there was one particular guy that she wanted to attract more than anyone. And the worst part? Sometimes, he won't even respond back.

She knows that, by now, he gets intensely jealous every time she has a doctor's appointment, and insists on coming with her- even if it's just to wait in the waiting room. But for the life of her, she cannot understand why he shies away every time her attentions fall on him.

Sometimes, it's endearing.

Most of the time: exasperating. It's not like she hasn't jumped his bones before –okay it was _once_ in the front seat of his car, but whatever- and she doesn't want to have sex with him just because she's pregnant. Even though, it hasn't done well to her cravings.

Nope. Not at all.

The point is, when he looks at her with those eyes he looks at her with, and smiles that smile he has, and says those profound words; she goes weak in the knees a little more each time. Heat pools between her legs, and she goes speechless for a moment.

She wants him, okay? Actually, it is. It's _okay_ for her to _want_ the father of her child.

So, finally, one night and without any warning, she tells him.

"I want to have sex with you."

Adrian looks at him expectantly as she is knelt on his bed, clad in only one of his button-downs that go down to her thighs and a pair of lacy panties, which isn't unusual, but his eyes widen and his brow raises, and dammit, she wants to kiss that shocked expression off of his face now. She scoots closer to the edge, balling up her fists at the hem of his t-shirt. She leans up on her knees, "I want you to touch me Ben, just like in the car, remember?" It was supposed to be sexy and harsh, but comes out as needy and whispered. She doesn't think it matters because his eyes become lucid dark pools in recollection of that night, and she can feel wetness permeating her underwear. She wants this just _so bad_ right now, and she doesn't know if she could deal with another rejection.

"My dad and Betty are in the house," He whispers as an excuse. She smirks, sneaking her hands up his shirt and over his abdominals.

"We'll have to be _real_ quiet then, won't we?" She whispers, tilting her head and kissing a trail along his jawline. She takes one of his hands that lay rigid by his side and leads it from her inner thigh, and up into the welcoming heat. He groans her name, and she shivers at the touch. "Just let go, Ben. Stop thinking about what we should and shouldn't do because…" _I only want to do this with you._

Her breath hitches when he inches closer, fingertip trailing up and down her slit through cloth. She spreads her legs more, and all coherent thought is moments away from being forgotten.

"Why should I not worry about what we shouldn't do, Adrian?" He asks quietly, and the rawness of his voice cause nerves to shoot up her spine. His fingers slip past her underwear and she moans when his finger curls within her.

She can only grip his shirt to hold herself up, somehow feeling very dizzy at the sensation of his digit riding over her clit, and her breath comes out in shallow stints. It feels like everything is happening too soon, and they haven't even begun yet. She blames _stupid_ pregnancy hormones and the fact that _everything_ is heightened right now, and the fact that Ben is just _so damn sexy _right now with that cool confidence. He gives her butterfly kisses on her forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks, and she hasn't felt this amazing in a while.

She bucks against his hand, and when she attempts to push her pelvic down to force more pressure, his finger slips away. He'll trace the outline of her panties, then enter her again, then shy away when she tries grinding further for that delicious friction. It carries on a few times, of him giving and then taking away, for her to get truly frustrated with the game, "Damn it, Ben. Just- just touch me already."

"You didn't answer my question," He reminds, removing his hand from the juncture of her legs to trace random shapes on her inner thigh.

"I want you," She says, lusted eyes set on his. "And we can, and we should, and _dammit_, you said that if I needed anything, to tell you, and I'm telling you that I need this from you." She pants at each interval, aching for him, and his finger trails up her leg again. It's no secret that he drives her crazy, makes her feel things she never felt before, even with Ricky. She shouldn't be this needy, this desperate, and she's never needed it this much before. It kind of scares her in a way because he's said no before –something about the doctors not liking him and whatever other nonsense he babbled about- and since she spotted that day, he's been extra careful around her.

"I asked about whether or not I could have sex," Adrian murmurs, thinking about his hand on her inner thigh. Ben's eyes widen.

"When did you-?"

"You were out in the waiting room, and Dr. Attuzi-"

His eyes bulge incredulously. "The creep that was flirting with you?"

"His _mother_," Adrian stresses with a huff, "Who is _also_ an OB-GYN, said that it was perfectly _fine_ to have sex after the first trimester."

Ben becomes quiet after that and Adrian, for a moment, thinks he's going to say no, that they should "get a second opinion" and "be more responsible". She almost wilts in disappointment until Ben's hand ascends and the fear of rejection is suddenly lifted from her shoulders. He leans down closer to her ear, shivers when his breath hits her neck.

"Lay down, Adrian."

She's not used to taking commands from anyone, not even really from her mother who is barely home and her father that she met last year, but she's so tensed in anticipation that she complies readily without complaint, laying down on her back, dark curls laid out across the pillow. He follows after her, hovering just above her to where he doesn't lay flat against her form, which she nearly scoffs at because she's barely showing and he doesn't want to acknowledge that he _won't_ hurt the baby.

Her arms slip across the back of his neck, and to pull him even closer, she wraps her legs around his slim hips. She really just wants skin-on-skin right now, but he's being so painfully slow with his movements that she figures the more hot and bothered she gets, the better the sex will be. Her brow rises, "Don't you want your shirt back, Ben?"

He kisses her soundly in what she thinks is agreement, and his lips quickly leave hers, descending down to her neck, her clavicle, and she can feel his smile when she whines his name. He looks up with hooded eyes and Adrian pouts when he grins at her with his gloriously ruffled hair. She secretly loves it when he looks so untidy. She begins trying to unbutton the shirt she's wearing, but his hands fall on her wrists and hold them back against the bedspread, straddling her small form. And as turned on as she is, she wonders where the hell this hotness even came from. He leans forward with a smile, kissing her gently. "You've got to be patient, and you've got to be quiet because my father's right down the hall, and I doubt that he would want, or approve us having sex."

Adrian, willing to obey, still rolls her eyes. "He knows we're probably gonna have sex, especially since _you_ were the one who got me pregnant."

His eyes darken, "Knowing something and witnessing it are two different things, Adrian."

She huffs, and groans shortly after when he's nuzzled in-between her breasts, unbuttoning the shirt from the bottom. Her fingers run through his thick hair, and her eyes flutter shut when her finally gets the shirt open and his mouth engulfs one of her breasts. Her toes curl and she bites her lower lip to restrain herself because she knows he wasn't kidding about Leo being down the hall. For all of her brashness and bravado, she wouldn't want her almost father-in-law walking in on her and Ben. Just. No.

Her hands grip his shirt from the back, and she starts tugging until she gets it up and over his head, and her manicured finger trails up from his taut abs, to his pectorals. And he isn't the most filled out guy she's been with, but there is power in his body, and underlying strength she's pleased to know is there with or without clothes. She takes this time to admire him because he's doing the same to her, and the kiss he gives her is soft, cherishing. "You're beautiful, Adrian."

Her eyes suddenly become glassy when his hand rests on her bare belly, the slight curvature under his hand. It's not like it's the first time she's heard those words, especially while she's almost naked, but for some reason, they hold more weight to her when Ben says them. It isn't just an empty statement of flowery hollow words, but like most things he says, they have meaning, true meaning. She could fall in love with him and his words alone. She turns her head towards his bedside lamp, which was still on. He's seen her in a vulnerable state before when they discovered they were going to be parents, but she feels like glass under his microscope and she's never felt more see through.

Ben's large hand turns her chin back to face him, and his eyes widen at the sight of hers, and jeez, how many things can someone love about _one_ solitary person? "What's wrong?" He asks, concerned.

Instead of answering him, she takes his hand and guides it down over the hem of her panties. "I just…I just want you to touch me, Ben. Touch me like you love me." _Like you'd touch Amy if you had the chance…_

She doesn't even mean to think it, but the traitorous voice in the back of her mind spoke far too quickly for her to stop it, and it saddens her because she thinks she's, legit, _falling for him_ and that _scares_ her because the last person she fell for didn't want her back as much as she wanted him.

She lifts her hips and he drags her underwear off with her assistance, and then they follow suit with Ben's boxers and she can feel him at her entrance, hot and heavy. She laughs at the mesmerized expression on his face at their nearly joined bodies and kisses his jawline. "_Papí, please,_" She moans breathily with her accent, and yes, she's teasing him, just like he'd tease her so many times.

Ben swallows past the lump in his throat, holding onto her steady hips. She's underneath him, and so warm, and _waiting_, and the first thing out of his mouth is, "I- we need a condom."

Her finely tweezed brow rises. "_Seriously_?" She grits out, "I'm _pregnant_."

"And susceptible to STDs, and-" His rambling thought is cut off by a buck of her hips and while he's not inside of her, he can feel how wet she is on his manhood and it feels amazing. She starts moving and he's slowly dipping inside of her. Her voice is in his ear, whispering how much she wants this, needs this, and he can't help but agree.

He enters her quickly, but slowly works his way in until he's at the hilt and she's worrying her lower lip in pleasure, trying not to make a sound. His mouth finds hers and the kiss slowly becomes more and more heated as Ben repeatedly enters and exits her. She's moaning into his mouth, fingernails digging into the skin of his back as the pace quickens and slows, as if he knows she's tumbling towards the edge, and holding her back before she could step off. Adrian fists the hair at the nape of his neck and wraps her legs tighter around his hips, keeping him buried in-between her legs. Deep in her warmth, he can feel the familiar feeling of her walls contracting around him, willing to strangle him in her heat.

"Ben," She whines, muffled against his lips with her eyes screwed shut. Adrian clings to him, riding out the final waves of pleasure with a scream deep in her throat. "I-I-I, don't stop, _don't stop_."

Ben grunts against the temple of her head, fingers flicking her underneath her hood until she cries out against the crook of his neck, and he lets go shortly after inside of her.

He rolls off of her, kissing her forehead, cheeks, and jaw adoringly as they lay beside each other, staring into each other's eyes. He brushes a mussed curl from her cheekbone, and smiles, eyes filled with something both safe and unfamiliar to Adrian. She puts her hand on his chest, feeling his fast and rumbling heartbeat while he's still inside of her, and smiles back softly, eyes hooded and sleepy. He whispers that he loves her in her ear before shutting off his bedside lamp and her world goes black.

She decides that before, when they were holding hands late at night in her bedroom, was perfection. But this was simply _divine_.

* * *

So, after having seen the spoilers for Bendrian come March 28th (and beyond), I'm saddened. I'm sad, and happy, and anxious because I so want them back on my screen, but they're gonna go through a lot. I hope that they can survive all of the trials and tribulations, and even...become stronger despite of it. Thanks so much for reading, even after 100 chapters, and I hope to hear your amazing feedback, as usual :)

DAC


	104. Yes

**Word**_pLaY_

* * *

**Yes**

_Adv. Used as a function word to express assent or agreement_

* * *

Adrian falls back on his bed with a laugh as Ben nuzzles her neck, nipping at the sensitive skin. Fighting back a giggle when his fingers glide over her curves, she admonishes him, "Ben!"

He stops his assault, resting her head on his arm and gazing down at her meaningfully. His free hand caresses the side of her face against her dark curls, and he realizes that Alice was right; she really does glow. "If I were to ask you to marry me right now, would you say no?"

Her lips part, stunned by the question, but she takes her time to think it over before she answers. "I-I don't know, Ben…" She says quietly. "So, do me a favor and don't ask me."

His lips brush against her pulse point, "Does that mean it'd be a yes?"

"It means..." She sighs. "It is what it is, Ben. We're _too young._"

"And yet, we're about to be parents in a few months," Ben brings up a point that is only becoming more and more apparent to Adrian the more snug her shirts fit. "It's not as if we haven't lived with each other already," He says, remembering their nightcaps with each other over the summer. He'd go over to her house after work, and she'd stay over during the weekends and they would enjoy each other's company during the days...and especially during the night, even if it was hand holding in bed. "It would just be more...official, and we'd get to know each other's habits more before the baby comes."

Adrian sighs, looking up at the ceiling.

"...But you want to be _married_ before that..."

She cranes her neck forward to look at him, "There's nothing wrong with that."

"I know there isn't," He agrees. "Which is why I do. Want to marry you, that is."

"You can't always get what you want, Ben," Adrian murmurs. She bats her eyes slowly as the safe lull of sleep rests heavy on them. "I love you, Ben, I do..._as a friend_," She stresses when his eyes light up. She almost feels bad for the emphasis when his almond eyes dim in disappointment. She looks up wistfully, "I've always imagined being married to the guy I would have a child and live with, and even though we are having a child, it doesn't mean we should rush into marriage, or even living together."

The air is palpably silent after that.

"I do love you, Ben," Adrian whispers.

"So, then, can I ask you?" Ben inquires. "Because I love you, too."

"...Wait to ask me. When you really want to ask me, and I'll...I'll say yes, no questions asked."

He kisses her slowly and holds her to that promise a few days later.

* * *

Post _Mirrors_, Pre _Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner_. Bendrian, so cute, so cute…and is anyone still reading this? I'd love to hear thoughts, if you are, but thank you to those still reading, and those who comment as well, reviews are love. The suggestion drabbles I've received are coming soon; any more suggestions? Leave a comment and hopefully you'll see it soon.

DAC


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